The Holidays Can Change Everything
by LunarEclipse360
Summary: No one knew why he refused to return home for the holidays but when Chad convinces him, Troy is thrusted back into his past and into the eyes of the one who had stolen his heart. Can the holidays really change everything?
1. Home For Christmas

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: I don't own HSM if I did then HSM 2 would already be out on dvd_**

**A/N: here it is everyone, my Christmas story. Every chapter is every day of the month of December, meaning they're going to be pretty long. This chapter was seven pages to be exact. Enjoy**

_Home For Christmas_

**December 1; 24 more days until Christmas**

It had been three years since Troy Bolton had been home for Christmas. He hadn't seen his family or any of his friends since he left for college, with the exception of his best friend Chad Danforth. He always told them he was busy but the truth was...he was afraid to go back, to face the one person who had stolen his heart and he could never have. But this year Chad convinced Troy to accompany him to the Evans winter home on Long Island in New York.

Sharpay had invited all their friends and their friends' family to spend Christmas with her and her family. Of course everyone agreed but no one knew if Troy was going to attend. Chad had broken the ice when he informed his parents that Troy was, indeed, coming with. Troy had been hesitant when Chad asked, knowing who he would see once he reunited with his friends. Chad reassured him time and time again that everything would be okay.

"With all the things Sharpay has planned out, there's no way you two will be alone together."

"You sure?"

"Of course. Don't you trust me?" Troy nodded but his mind was still doubtful. He really didn't want to take the risk but he hadn't been with his parents for Christmas since his senior year in high school. He silently nodded and Chad cheered.

That had been a week ago. It was now December 1st and the two boys were on their way to New York from Los Angeles. It was a long flight, giving Troy some time to think about what he was getting himself into.

Six hours and fifteen minutes later, they landed in JFK airport in New York, tired of sitting down. They made their way to baggage claim where they spotted a few familiar faces. A bubbly blonde squealed before running towards them.

"I can't believe you got him to come." she said as she wrapped her arms around Chad.

"Well hello to you too Sharpay." Chad said and she playfully slapped his arm.

"Why didn't you tell me this in advance?"

"Cause I thought it would be a great surprise." he said with a smirk on his face. She shook her head before turning to face Troy.

"And you Mr. Bolton, where have you been all this time?"

"Busy."

"That's total bull Troy. We all know why you don't come around anymore."

"Then why did you ask?"

"To see if you'd actually tell the truth." Troy rolled his eyes and looked over to baggage claim.

"We better get over there. The bags are out." he said to Chad and they walked over to where other people stood waiting for their bags. After gathering their bags, Chad and Troy found that Sharpay was no longer the only familiar face around.

Chad smiled and went to greet his other friends but Troy chose to stay behind, already seeing the one person he didn't want to see. His breath hitched in his throat as her eyes connected with his. She smiled softly and he couldn't help but smile back. She walked over to him and he felt his heart speed up at every step she took.

"Long time no see, huh Troy?" he nodded before finding his voice.

"Yeah."

"Guys let's go. We got a long drive." yelled Chad, breaking the tension around the two.

"We're coming." Troy yelled and turned back to the girl in front of him. "We should go." she nodded and he walked ahead of her.

"Troy." he stopped and turned back to her. "It's great to see you again." he smiled and nodded.

"Happy to see you too, Gabriella." she smiled and ran to catch up with the others. He ran after her and soon they were with everyone else, making their way out of the airport and to the Evans' winter home.

"So why is this your winter home when it's near a beach?" Jason asked as the group sat in the back of the limousine that Sharpay and Ryan's parents had sent for them.

"Because I only spend my winters here and my summers in Lava Springs. I prefer being here for Christmas because it actually snows here."

"Though it has been snowing randomly." Ryan added as his long term girlfriend, Destiny, of two years snuggled into his chest.

"True. But I still like it here."

Troy was half-listening to the conversation going on. His mind was more out of the window instead of in the car. He knew he should just act like everything was fine but he knew nothing was fine, not when he was this close to Gabriella. Speaking of Gabriella, she was currently watching Troy through worried eyes. He hadn't spoken the entire time. The second he stepped into the car, he immediately turned his attention to the outside world instead of with the rest of them. She was concerned about him, not fully understanding why he was acting the way he was.

"Troy." she said loud enough for him to hear but not to attract attention from their friends. He snapped out of his trance and turned to her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." he said nodding. "I'm fine." he smiled but his smile did not reach his eyes. Gabriella could see it clearly but chose to just ignore it. She didn't want to make him talk about something he might not want to talk about. She smiled sadly and nodded an 'okay' before letting him turn his attention back onto the passing trees. Gabriella turned back to the conversation that was still going on but her attention was still on Troy, her eyes glancing at him at every passing second.

Two hours later, the party finally reached the beach house that belonged to the Evans family. The chaffer hopped out of the front seat and went around to open the door. The first one out was Troy and he immediately made his way to the trunk to get his things. He got his stuff out and the second he turned around to move out of the way, he found himself staring into Gabriella's brown eyes.

"S-Sorry." he mumbled and moved around her. She watched him walk away, a frown setting itself upon her lips. She grabbed her bags and walked over towards where Troy stood silently. She stood beside him, mirroring his silence and glancing at him every few seconds.

Minutes later the group of ten friends walked into the cottage-type house. While everyone stopped to admire the lovely interior of the house, Sharpay and Ryan walked to the front of the group and turned towards them.

"Welcome to the Evans winter home." Sharpay said excitedly.

"It's beautiful Shar." Kelsi said.

"I know. Follow me everyone." she said and led her friends up a flight of winding stairs. When they reached the top, she stopped and turned towards them. "Down this way..." she said pointing to the left side of the long hallway "is our rooms, girls. There's two bedrooms and two bathrooms. On this side, is the boys' rooms." she said pointing to the right. "It's the same as the girls', two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The bedrooms are connected by a door so you can go in and out of each other's rooms without actually leaving your room."

"Why can't we just sleep in the same rooms as our girlfriends?" Jason asked.

"Because my mom does want any 'funny business' going around."

"But we're twenty one. We should be aloud to do whatever we want." Ryan said.

"Unless you want mom coming over to make sure we're all in different rooms I suggest you keep that to yourself." Ryan nodded and everyone didn't say anything more. "Okay dinner is at eight so until then...what do you guys want to do?"

"Maybe we should unpack first Shar." Zeke said and Sharpay nodded. Everyone went off to their respective sides of the hallway.

Troy went into the first room with Chad and Jason and put his stuff down on the first bed he got his hands on. He let out a sigh and began unpacking.

"Dude you okay?" Chad asked.

"Yeah I'm fine it's just...been a long ride."

"Yeah and I'm beat."

"Same here." Jason said as he went face first onto his bed. "I hope whatever we do doesn't involve leaving this house."

"Agreed." the other two boys said just as Kelsi walked into the room.

"We're going downstairs to play a game, you guys coming."

"What game?"

"_Guitar Hero_"

"Alright." Chad said and bounced out the door followed by Troy, Jason and Kelsi. By the time they got downstairs to the game room, everyone had already taken a seat. Troy made sure to stay away from Gabriella so he took a seat beside Ryan and Destiny.

"Ryan you know mom hates it when you put your feet on the furniture." Sharpay said as she stared at her twin with his feet on the coffee table.

"But she's not here, now is she Shar?" Sharpay rolled her eyes and walked over to the Playstation 3 system.

"Speaking of parents, when is ours getting here?" Taylor asked.

"They're actually already here. All the parents are in the next house that's like a mile from here."

"So what do you own this whole beach?" Gabriella asked.

"No just six miles of it." everyone looked at each other than back to Sharpay. "So are we gonna play this game or what?" she asked and put the game into the system.

As everyone played the game, Troy sat back watching them. He knew he should enjoy himself but it was hard to do when the object of his despair sat only a few inches away. His eyes glanced over towards Gabriella and his eyes scanned over her smiling face. Her eyes sensed his and she looked at him. She smiled and he smiled slightly before turning back to the rest of his friends.

Dinner rolled around and everyone sat at the large table in the dining room. No one expected what was to come next.

"Who's hungry?" Sharpay asked as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Shar...you cook?" Kelsi asked.

"Of course. Just because I have maids and butlers back home doesn't mean I don't know how to cook. That's probably the only reason why I come back here every year, I actually get to cook for myself. Mom and dad don't allow maids and stuff here. They say it helps when you're out on your own."

"Okay that answered the 'you can cook' question. How about the 'can you cook' question?" Chad asked.

"Kind of but I had hours of help back home thanks to Zeke." she smiled at her boyfriend and he sent her a reflected smile. "So let's eat." she said and set the food on the table. She went in and out of the kitchen, setting food on the dining room table.

Everyone dug in and conversation struck up around the room. Gabriella looked over at Troy who was in deep conversation with Jason. She smiled slightly at seeing him interacting with everyone but the smile slowly slipped off of her face. She couldn't deny the pain in her heart that had been there since high school. She loved Troy, she knew she did but she didn't know if he loved her back. His reaction to her earlier gave her a sense that he didn't want to be around her.

"Gabi." she snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at Taylor who had been staring at her. "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Taylor gave Gabriella a look that said 'I-don't-believe-you' and Gabriella sighed. "It's just...ever since we got here, I feel like Troy's been ignoring me."

"He's not ignoring you. I saw him smile at you when we were in the game room."

"But that's all he did. He hasn't said a word to me since I bumped into him when we were getting our stuff out of the limo. He's been nothing but quiet to me."

"Maybe he's just going through something." Gabriella sighed and turned her eyes to Troy, who was now sitting quietly eating his food.

"I just wish he would open up to me again...like he did when we were back in high school."

"You love him, don't you?" she turned towards Taylor and blushed slightly.

"It's that obvious isn't it?" Taylor smiled and nodded.

"Yeah."

"I do...I love him more than anything in this world but...I don't think he feels the same."

"Then why not find out?"

"Because I'd rather go on not knowing than be rejected." Gabriella went to eating her food and Taylor watched with a sad face. She glanced over at Troy and knew she had to talk to him before Gabriella went crazy.

After dinner, everyone went into the living room and sat around the tv, watching one of the many Christmas shows. Troy decided not to be involved in the much needed friend moment so he went up to his room. Taylor followed up behind him and stopped him in front of his door.

"Hey Tay. What's up?"

"I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About Gabriella...she thinks you're avoiding her." Troy's eyes widened before lowering to the ground. What she said was true. Troy was avoiding Gabriella. He couldn't stand being around her and not being able to hold her like he wanted to.

"I'm not avoiding her." he lied. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"So how about you spend your time with Gabriella tomorrow when we go out?"

"Tay..."

"Hey. You said you're not avoiding her."

"I'm not I just..."

"Then spend time with her tomorrow." he sighed and Taylor gave him a sad smile. "She's really missed you over these three years. It was hard for her not to see her support system." Troy smiled softly and looked at Taylor.

"Was I really her support system back in high school?"

"Of course you were. She couldn't do anything without consulting you first. When her father died, you were the first one she ran to."

"I was?"

"Yeah. I was second but I really didn't mind. You two were close back then, closer than me and her. When you never came home for those three years, she was a wreck. When I told her that you were coming, she was so ecstatic and couldn't wait to get here."

"I didn't know I was that important to her."

"You were and still are. Please spend time with her tomorrow. I miss having the old Gabi around and she's only the old Gabi when you're with her." Troy smiled and nodded. "Thanks." she smiled and went back down the stairs. Troy's smile grew a bit and he went into his room.


	2. Silver Bells

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: I don't own the story or any of the places mentioned in this story._**

**A/N: this chapter is a doozy. It's nine pages in Microsoft Word. I also want to point out that there is a banner for this story in my profile.**

_Silver Bells_

**December 2; 23 more days until Christmas**

At eight in the morning everyone was up and about. Zeke and Sharpay was in the kitchen making breakfast while everyone else was in the living room watching the news.

"Well looks like today will be a nice day." Destiny commented and stood up to see how breakfast was going.

"I so hope it snows one of these days." Taylor said and Chad gave her a curious look.

"Why?"

"Cause I've never actually seen snow before. I heard it's really beautiful when it snows." Chad rolled his eyes and looked at Jason and Troy.

"Girls." he scoffed before receiving a smack on the chest by Taylor.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

"Breakfast's ready guys." Destiny said coming into the living room. Everyone stood up and headed into the dining room. Troy was about to take a seat between Jason and Chad but Taylor got there before him, leaving only one seat open; the seat next to Gabriella. He took a deep breath and sat next to her.

"Hey." he said softly as he took the seat beside her. She wore a shocked look the whole time before finally speaking up.

"Um...hi." silence past between them before he decided to speak.

"Look about yesterday..." he said scratching his neck nervously "I-I'm sorry...about that."

"Why were you ignoring me?"

"I wasn't ignoring you." she smiled skeptically.

"You're a horrible liar Troy Bolton."

"Okay so I kind of was but it wasn't your fault. I just had a lot on my mind." Gabriella still didn't believe him but let it go.

"Okay everyone eat up. We have to be out of here by nine." Sharpay said as she and Zeke laid the plates of food on the table.

"Do you mind me asking where we're going?" Chad asked.

"Do you mind me asking what we're going to do for the next twenty-three days?" Ryan asked.

"No need to ask. You'll find out sooner or later."

"I'd rather sooner than later." Ryan said and Chad nodded in agreement.

"Well too bad. I have this whole vacation planned out from now until Christmas day." she said as she dug into her scrambled eggs. Everyone at the table exchanged worried glances before going back to their food. Their minds were set on what Sharpay had planned for them and they hoped it wasn't something too outrageous.

Troy's mind, however, wasn't on what Sharpay had planned but instead on the brunette beside him and how he was going to get through the rest of the day. He planned to do what Taylor had asked of him. He was going to spend his whole day with Gabriella, he just didn't know how. He had been away from her for three years, it had almost made him go nuts just sitting beside her in the limousine yesterday. Now he had to spend the whole day with her. He sighed and continued to eat in silence.

Thirty minutes later, half of the group was washing the dishes while the other half got ready to leave. When the dishes were done, the ten friends walked out of beach house and into the limousine that sat waiting for them. Troy sat beside Gabriella, his heart skipping every few beats. The two glanced over at each other the whole ride into the city.

"So now will you tell us where we're going?" Kelsi asked Sharpay as they got closer to the city.

"Fine. If you must know, we're going to play a little laser tag."

"Wait...last time I checked all the arcades in the city were shut down."

"We're not going into the city." Kelsi gave her a confused look before realizing that they were in fact straying away from the city.

"Then where are we going?" Chad asked.

"New Roc City of course. It's only thirty minutes away from the city but it's like the only close arcade left. The nearest one is in New Jersey."

"I curse the day they shut down Laser Park." Ryan said and crossed his arms.

"I know. It was so fun there."

Minutes passed by before a sign that said 'Welcome To New Rochelle' appeared before them and another five minutes before they reached New Roc City. The driver pulled up to the entrance and everyone climbed out.

"Pick us up at three okay?" Sharpay said and the driver nodded.

"Will do Ms. Evans." he said before driving away.

"Okay guys. Ready to have some fun?" they nodded and she led them over to the door.

"Wow." Destiny said as they walked inside. The building had three floors, each connected by escalators. The first floor was glow-in-the-dark mini golf, a billiards center and a go-cart speedway towards the back. The second floor was a glow-in-the-dark bowling alley, a sports lounge and a skating rink at the back. The third floor was the arcade, that's where they were headed. "So what are we going to do first when we get up there?" Destiny asked as they rode the escalator.

"Laser tag." they all said aloud and laughed. They finally reached the third floor and paid for a laser tag time trial. They had two groups ahead of them so while they waited, they brought game cards and started playing various games.

The first thing Chad, Jason, Troy and Zeke went to was the air hockey tables. Everyone else followed, knowing they would make a competition out of it. Chad and Zeke were first, both being supported by their girlfriends. The game ended twelve to nine, Zeke getting the victory.

"You only one because I wasn't focused enough." Chad said, trying to explain the reason why he lost.

"Yeah, yeah. You're just a sore loser." Zeke said and Chad rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Who's next?"

"I am." Jason said and they slipped their cards into the slot. "Let's go." he said and the game started.

Once again Zeke came out victorious, doing a little victory game as everyone tried to cheer Jason up.

"I don't get it. I never lose in air hockey." Jason said.

"Well consider it your first time."

"Troy you're next. Beat the shit out of him." Jason said as Troy took his spot.

"Ready to lose Baylor?" Troy asked.

"If you can beat me." they both slipped their cards into the slot, starting the game. Troy was focused, Troy was in his comfort zone. His 'never-give-up' nature began making its appearance as he started making point after point, causing Zeke to lose his cool and loose the game.

"Yes." Troy said as he made his last point, ending the game.

"I was the master. What happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened. I just beat the so-called 'master'" Jason and Chad patted Troy on the back, congratulating him on his win.

"I knew you could beat him Troy." Chad said as Zeke walked over to them.

"I was no match for you my friend."

"I know." Troy responded, puffing out his chest.

"Guys we still have another group in front of us so play what you can before we head inside the stadium." Sharpay said.

"Stadium?" Zeke asked.

"Okay so it's not actually a stadium. It's more like a giant room but still we'll be heading in there soon so play while you can." she grabbed Taylor and Gabriella's arm and headed off towards the nearest game, Kelsi and Destiny in tow.

The group played what they could until Sharpay said that it was time for them to head over to the laser tag room.

"There's two teams guys. The red and the green. Since there's ten of us we're going to have to split into teams of five. So what will it be? Guys against girls or we just pick randomly?" everyone exchange glances before all saying:

"Guys against girls."

"Okay then. Girls are the red team though."

"Hey no fair." Ryan said

"No one said life was fair." she said with a grin and pulled the girls into the room, followed by the boys.

Gabriella listened intently as Sharpay whispered their plan to them. She knew the boys would probably be doing the same but sometimes Sharpay's plans always worked out.

"Okay so where going to have two girls attack their base while the rest of us protect ours. Who wants to volunteer to be the attackers?"

"I'll do it." Gabriella said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm faster than most of you anyway."

"True. Who else?"

"I'll go." Kelsi said. "I'm smaller it'll make me easier to hide."

"I don't think anyone is prone to not being seen with these things on." Taylor said pointing to the glow in the dark equipment.

"Yea but I find ways." Kelsi said with a grin.

"Okay then you two will go attack their base while we protect ours." Sharpay said and the girls took their positions as the game started. Gabriella and Kelsi took off to the other side of the stadium while the other three girls kept an eye out for anything green.

"I wonder if Shar realized that this might be a little harder than expected." Kelsi said.

"Why?"

"Well because four out of the five guys are basketball players, one being a team captain, and they know how to make out full-proof plans."

"True but Sharpay knows what she's doing." Gabriella said before she spotted green out the corner of her eye. "Run." she whispered and the two girls ran in different directions.

Troy and Chad walked ahead of the others, keeping their eyes open. A gleam of red caught their eyes and they immediately shot at it.

"I think we might be surrounded." Chad said to the others.

"I don't think so. There was only two of them." Troy said looking around.

"They might be bait."

"True but..." he stopped mid-sentence and turned towards the others. "You guys keep going, I'm going back to the base."

"Why?" Jason asked.

"Just go." they nodded and Troy headed back towards his team's base. Upon arriving, he saw Kelsi and Gabriella shooting at what the target point. "Just as I suspected." he said and they jumped at hearing his voice.

"You can't stop us." Gabriella said.

"Oh and why not?"

"You're out numbered, that's why." Kelsi said and the two girls smirked before shooting at his armor. Troy jumped out of the way as they continued to shoot at him.

"You keep shooting the target point, I'll deal with him." Gabriella whispered and Kelsi nodded before turning her attention back on the target point. Gabriella walked slowly over to where she saw Troy go behind. Troy quickly popped out from behind the wall and started shooting at her. She, in retaliation, started shooting at him. They dodged behind every wall trying to block the laser bullets.

Soon Gabriella ran out of bullets and knew she needed to return to her base to get more but she didn't know how to get away from Troy. She took a deep breath before sprinting away from the wall she had been hiding behind. Troy followed her, catching up to her in a matter of seconds. He grabbed her arm and pulled her against him.

"Where do you think you're going Ms. Montez?" he asked with a grin and she smirked before pressing a button that she knew held her last bomb. He was shocked when his armor went off and he let go of her arm, allowing her to get away.

"Never drop your guard Bolton. Isn't that what you taught me?" she asked as she ran in the direction of her base. He smiled before following her.

The game soon ended, declaring the girls the winners. Once Gabriella had returned to her base, Taylor went off to help out Kelsi, in turn leading the boys back to their base to learn what had been happening while they were busy battling it out with the girls.

Another game started up afterwards, it's results the same as the last. The girls walked out of the stadium victoriously, the boys following with frowns on their faces.

"How the hell did the girls win again?" Chad asked.

"I know. It's not right." Jason said.

"Sorry to say this guys but my sister's plans never seem to fail."

"What about those two plans back in high school?" Zeke asked. "You know the one when she switched the call back day to the same day as the game and the decathlon to try and prevent Troy and Gabriella making it so she could get the lead role in the play. Or how about the other one when she tried to get Troy to sing with her at the country club. Those two failed."

"That's because she was only thinking about herself back then. Now she's not." Chad said and Zeke nodded.

"True."

"Let's go have some fun." Chad said and the guys went in different directions.

Troy watched from afar as Gabriella played DDR with Taylor. He smiled softly as he watched her try to throw Taylor off of her groove. The second she laughed, he felt his heart sing. He still couldn't believe that after all these years, she still had this effect on him. He walked over to the two laughing girls before cutting into their conversation.

"Mind if I join in?" he said and the two girls looked at him. Gabriella smiled and nodded.

"Sure." their eyes were locked and Taylor smiled as she watched the sparks fly between them. She climbed off of the DDR platform and Troy stepped on in her spot. "Are you sure you're up to this."

"Are you challenging me?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"You should know better than anyone else that I don't lose."

"True but I am quite good at this. Five bucks says you won't win this."

"You're on." she grinned and they started up the game. As their game continued, everyone came to watch them battle it out, including their friends. Taylor and Chad watched with huge smiles as their best friends had fun together. It was the first time in three years they had seen them so happy. The game finally finished and Gabriella jumped off the platform with a wide grin.

"I won." she said sticking out her hand. Troy groaned before placing a five dollar bill in her hand.

"You were just lucky."

"No I was just good." he shook his head just as Chad and Taylor walked up to them.

"Had fun you two?" Taylor asked and Gabriella nodded.

"Yep and I won five bucks."

"What?" Chad said looking at Gabriella.

"Yeah. I bet him five bucks that he couldn't beat me and Mr. 'I-don't-lose' over here..." she said pointing to Troy " lost."

"Dude you lost to a girl?"

"You all lost to a girl when we played laser tag." Taylor said glaring at Chad.

"Yeah but there were five of you. He just lost to one. A girl, Troy? How could you?"

"Excuse us while I beat that sexist comment out of him." Taylor said and grabbed Chad's arm.

"Well that was entertaining." Troy said.

"Yeah."

"Now what?"

"I'm hungry."

"Me too. Let's get something to eat."

"Okay." the two walked over to the small food court in the corner and ate alone for the first time since high school.

Hours past by and Sharpay saw that it was time to leave. She went around gathering up her friends but was shocked when she found Troy and Gabriella in the mini-golf area.

"Okay put your hand here and here." she heard him say to her. She smiled and stood there as Troy showed Gabriella how to putt.

When Gabriella successfully got the ball into the hole, she squealed and turned around to hug him. Troy was knocked off guard by the action but wrapped his arms around her. Sharpay watched for a few more seconds, waiting for them to break away but when they didn't she cleared her throat. They separated and looked at her.

"Now that I've gotten your attention, we've got to get going." the two nodded before Sharpay walked away with a sly grin on her face. Troy and Gabriella finally realized that they still had their limbs locked around each other and quickly jumped away from each other. Troy cleared his throat before looking at her.

"We should go." Gabriella nodded her head nervously and they walked out of the mini-golf area. They saw their friends waiting for them and walked over. The group left the building and to the awaiting limo that sat outside.

"So Shar told us about what happened between you and Gabriella." Chad whispered to his best friend as they sat in the back of the limo, on their way back to Long Island.

"Nothing happened between us Chad. I taught her how to play mini golf, we hugged, and that's it."

"You hugged?"

"Yeah but for only like a second."

"More like sixty seconds according to Sharpay. She said you two didn't break apart until she cleared her throat."

"It was nothing okay."

"Uh huh. Sure."

"Look can we just drop it." Chad nodded and the two turned their attention to the conversation the rest of their friends were having.

Once back at the house, they watched a little tv before eating and getting some shut eye.

**A/N: I'm saying this right now, all the places in this story besides Sharpay's beach house are real. New Roc City is a real place in New Rochelle, New York. Laser park was a real place until they closed it down earlier this year. It was the last arcade in New York City which totally sucks. I'm sorry if the laser tag part is confusing but I haven't played in a while so it's all from memory as is what is on the floors of New Roc City. I haven't been in a while so I don't remember the floors. All I rememeber is the arcade being on the last floor, the food court inside of the arcade, and the skating rink being on the second floor. All the things inside are, in fact, real though. The bowling alley, the mini-golf and everything else. There's also an imax theatre there but that's next door to the arcade.**


	3. These Are Special Times

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: nothing, I own nothing...which is pretty sad_**

**A/N: I'm so happy all of you are enjoying this story.**

_These Are Special Times_

**December 3; 22 more days until Christmas**

Gabriella awoke abruptly, her dreams jerking her into reality. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair before pushing the covers off of her and walking into the bathroom. She quickly used the bathroom and headed downstairs, hoping that a little tv would make her sleepy. She glanced at the clock, its red letters reading three o'clock, and left the room she shared with Taylor. Carefully making her way downstairs, she made sure to keep her steps quiet so she wouldn't wake anyone. She switched on the television and curled up on the couch.

Minutes later she heard footsteps coming down the stairs and turned around. Brown met blue as Troy stopped in his tracks on the staircase.

"Hey." he said.

"Hey. I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, no. I just came down here to get something to drink."

"Oh."

"You okay?"

"Yeah I just couldn't sleep." he nodded and adverted his eyes.

"Um...you want anything from the kitchen?" she shook her head and he nodded before heading into the kitchen. He fixed himself a glass of water before coming back into the living room. His eyes fell on the back of Gabriella's head and stared at her until she felt his eyes on her and turned around.

"What?" she asked and he shook his head.

"Nothing. Mind if I join you?" she shook her head and smiled softly. He took a seat beside her and the two watched the television in silence.

Five hours later, Taylor walked down the stairs and stopped when she heard the television. She walked into the living room and a smile found its way to her face when she spotted Troy and Gabriella asleep on the couch. His arm was wrapped around her shoulder as she leaned her head against his chest.

She heard the others coming down the stairs and told them to not make any noise. She motioned to them to come over and the walked quietly into the living room. All of them smiled as they laid eyes on the sight before them. Sharpay tried hard not to squeal but she couldn't help it, causing the two on the couch to awake. The second they opened their eyes, they were aware of their friends' presence. What they weren't aware of was their position at that current moment.

"What?" they both asked their friends before the finally realized how close they were to each other. They quickly jumped away from each other and blushed furiously.

"So how long have you two been down here?" Sharpay asked.

"Since three." Gabriella said not lifting her eyes from the floor. She didn't want to see the looks her friends were giving her.

"Wow. Was there a reason?"

"No reason. She couldn't sleep and I was thirsty. She was down here before me and I just decided to keep her company. I guess we just fell asleep." Troy answered, glancing over at Gabriella who still had her eyes fixed on the floor.

"Well I'm hungry. Anyone else want something to eat?" Sharpay said and headed to the kitchen with Zeke following. Once everyone was out of the room, Gabriella lifted her eyes and looked at Troy. He gave her a small smile, a smile she was about to return before Taylor came running down the stairs with Gabriella's cell phone in hand.

"Gabs it's Will." Gabriella got up and took her phone from Taylor before heading upstairs to the confines of her room. Taylor watched her leave before turning to Troy who had, also, been watching Gabriella leave.

"Tay...who's Will?" Troy asked and Taylor stiffened, knowing that the answer to that question would break his heart.

"He's...he's Gabi's boyfriend." she said, looking away so she wouldn't see the pain in his eyes. Troy could hear his heart shattering in his ears. He nodded and closed his eyes.

"Oh." he said and Taylor sighed. She walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. Troy sat there, staring at the floor, his body numb to everything around him. _'I should have known. Gabriella's a pretty girl...she won't not get asked out and without me around there was nothing stopping her from saying _no_.'_ Troy stood up and went into the dining room, sitting quietly, waiting for breakfast to be finished.

Gabriella walked in minutes later and sat across from Troy who had his eyes on the table cloth. She tried desperately to get his attention but he refused to look up. Even after everyone sat down to eat, he still sat quietly with his eyes fixed on his food.

"So Shar what are we doing today?" Zeke asked.

"I was thinking we could stay here then go clubbing later."

"That sounds good to me. How about you guys?" Chad asked and everyone nodded.

"But what are we going to do while we're here?" Destiny asked.

"We can play video games of course." Ryan said and Destiny rolled her eyes.

"Is that all you guys ever think about? Video games?"

"We're lucky if they even think about their girlfriends." Kelsi said and Destiny giggled.

"True." the laughter was interrupted when Troy stood up with his plate and left the table. Everyone looked at the other and shrugged.

"I'll see what's up." Chad said getting up to put his plate in the kitchen. He went up to Troy and Jason's room and knocked on the door.

"Go away." he heard on the other side.

"Troy it's me Chad. Can we talk?"

"Just leave me alone." Chad sighed before opening the door. "What part of go away don't you understand?" Troy asked as he stared at the ceiling.

"Dude what's wrong?" Troy sighed before turning over to his side.

"Nothing."

"That wasn't nothing down there." Chad said and sat down on Troy's bed. "Come on Troy. We've known each other since pre-school. I know when something's up."

"She has a boyfriend." he said and Chad gave him a confused look. "Gabriella."

"Oh...she does?"

"Yeah. His name's Will. He called earlier and when I asked Tay who he was, she told me he was Gabriella's boyfriend. I'm so stupid. How could I possibly think she likes me?"

"She does like you."

"So why the hell would she have a boyfriend?"

"Well face it Troy...you haven't exactly told her that you have feelings towards her. She was bound to get fed up and just find someone to take her mind off of you. But from what I've seen yesterday, her attempts were futile."

"Why can't I just tell her? Why do I have to be such a coward?"

"You're not a coward Troy you're just...not used to feeling this way about someone and then not knowing if they feel the same. You have every right to feel that way but you should try to at least make some progress."

"How?"

"Tell her how you feel. The worst she can say is that she doesn't feel the same."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Troy turned back to facing the ceiling and sighed. "I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me when you guys are about to leave."

"You're not coming with?"

"No."

"What? Why?"

"I just can't deal with it right now. I can't deal with being around her right now. I just need to cool off."

"Okay. But just think about it man. Going to a club is a great way to let loose."

"I'll think about it but I'm not saying I'm going."

"Okay. Well I'll see you later."

"Later." Chad left the room and Troy closed his eyes, slipping into a deep sleep.

Gabriella sat quietly among her friends, her mind on the boy who hadn't shown his presence since breakfast. She looked towards the next level of the house, wondering what he was doing. She stood up to find out for herself but Chad stopped her and shook his head.

"He needs a little alone time." Gabriella nodded in understanding and sat back down. Though she had chose to stay downstairs, she couldn't help but still want to go see if he was okay.

It came closer to the time when the group was about to leave to go into the city. Everyone was running around trying to get ready. Under all the confusion, Gabriella managed to sneak away from her friends and head up to Troy's room. She gently knocked on the door but upon no response, she made her way into the room. She smiled softly as she spotted Troy asleep on his bed. She walked over to his bedside and gently sat down beside him so she wouldn't wake him.

She brushed his hair out of his face and traced her finger down his jaw line. Just as she removed her finger, he began to stir. She thought it would make sense to just wake him now.

"Troy." she said softly and shook him. "Time to get up."

"I don't wanna."

"Well too bad." she said with a short laugh. "Come on. Everyone's getting ready to leave." his eyes opened and for the second time that day, brown met with blue.

"I don't even know if I'm going."

"Why not?"

"I just don't feel like it." he said and turned over so his back was to her.

"But if you don't come then I'll be by myself."

"No you won't. You have the girls to keep you company."

"Oh sure I will. The second we get there, they'll all be going off with their boyfriends and I'll be by myself."

"I really don't wanna go. Clubs aren't really my thing."

"Oh please, please, pretty please with sugar on top." Troy didn't answer and Gabriella crossed her arms. "Fine then. Stay here. Leave me to fend off all those horny boys by myself." the second the words 'horny boys' came out of her mouth, Troy shot up and sighed.

"Fine I'll go."

"Really?" he nodded and she squealed. "Thank you." she said and gave him a quick hug before leaving the room. He ran a hand through his hair before getting up to find clothes to change into.

Minutes later, he came walking down the stairs in a blue button up shirt and faded jeans with black Nike's. Gabriella smiled as she spotted him from the corner of her eye.

"How did you get him to come?" Chad asked, knowing his best friend's appearance was because of her.

"Easy. I just said the two magical words."

"And what's that?"

"Horny boys." Chad chuckled and shook his head.

"Should've known. Troy's always been protective of you." Gabriella smiled softly and turned her attention back to Troy who was now walking over to her. "So glad you decided to come." Chad said.

"Well I had a little motivation."

"Yeah Gabi told me about that." Troy chuckled nervously and scratched his neck.

"Yeah..." he cleared his throat and turned to Sharpay. "So where are we going?"

"Club Speed." Sharpay said as she pulled out her compact to check her make-up.

"Shar you just spent a whole hour fixing your make-up. Do you really need to check it so soon?" Taylor asked.

"Of course. You can never be to careful with make-up." Taylor rolled her eyes and turned her attention to everyone else.

"When are we leaving?" Kelsi asked.

"Now." Sharpay said as she closed her compact. She led the way as they all left the house and climbed into the limo.

"I'm glad you decided to come Troy." Gabriella whispered as she sat beside him.

"Well I didn't want you to be by yourself with all those guys around." she gave him a cheeky smile and he returned it with a small smile.

Taylor and Chad watched their best friends with amused eyes. They knew something was about to change and hopefully it would be a change for the better.

The group arrived at club an hour later. All were excited and ready to have some fun. Gabriella stood close to Troy as they walked into the crowded club. Troy smirked as he felt her petite hands wrap themselves around his forearm.

"Why don't we go over to the bar." he said loudly as he tried to talk over the music. She nodded and he led her over to the bar area where there were stools for her to sit on. They both sat down and he ordered a apple martini for her and a Jack Daniels for him. When he turned to look at her, he found her staring at the dance floor at all of their friends. A smile played on her lips as she watched them before a short laugh erupted from her throat. "What?" he asked and she looked over at him.

"Nothing." she said, shaking her head. "This just reminds me of prom. Everyone else on the dance floor, having fun..." the small smile that occupied her face, slowly began slipping "while we just sat off a the side, watching them, not doing anything." Troy noticed her change in mood and frowned.

"Here you go." the bartender said and they both reached for their drinks. An idea popped into Troy's mind as he drank down his drink. He smiled and looked at Gabriella.

"Well it doesn't have to be a repeat of prom." he said and she gave him a look of confusion. He set down his glass and took hers from her before taking her hand. "Come on." he dragged her onto the dance floor and they started moving to the beat.

Before long they forgot where they were or the complications that existed between them. Gabriella forgot she had a boyfriend and Troy forgot that Gabriella was off limits. They were completely lost in the music. But the vibration of Gabriella's phone brought them down from their isolated world. Gabriella looked into Troy's eyes and Troy looked into hers. She really didn't want to answer her phone but she knew she had to.

"I-I'll be right back." she said, their faces close enough for him to hear her. She untangled herself from Troy's arms and left to find a quiet area. Troy watched her walk away, his heart becoming emptier by each step she took. He ran a hand through his hair and walked off to the bar. He ordered himself another Jack Daniels and drank until he could no longer feel his heart breaking.

"Hey there hot stuff." a voice purred in his ear and her turned around. He grinned when he spotted a blonde haired girl standing in front of him. "How about me and you finding someplace to be alone?" there was a small voice in the back of his head that said not to but that was pushed away by the louder voice telling him that he should just do it and forget about Gabriella. He pushed himself off of the stool and let the blonde lead him to a secluded area.

After her phone call with her boyfriend, Gabriella headed back to the dance floor, hoping to see Troy still there. She was disappointed, instead when she saw him being pulled along by a blonde like a lost puppy. She tried to fight back her tears, telling herself she had no right to be upset. Troy was single, he had every right to hook up with a girl, even if it was some random bimbo. Not to mention Gabriella had a boyfriend. She shouldn't get herself upset over something that she had no control over. Still, she couldn't get rid of the breaking feeling her heart was experiencing.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing alone?" she turned around and acknowledged the red haired guy that stood in front of her.

"I'm not alone. My friends are around here...somewhere."

"Well some friends they are. Here you are, upset, and they're around here, having fun. That's not fun. What's gotten you so upset, beautiful?"

"It's kind of a long and complicated story."

"I think I can take it." she smiled and he motioned for her to follow him to one of the many couches situated in the back. She sat down and he sat down beside her. "Now tell me what's gotten you upset?"

"To make a long story short...I love someone who doesn't love me back."

"I'm sure there are other guys out there for you." he said and put his hand on top of hers. "You shouldn't worry about one guy who doesn't really care about you."

"That's not true. He does care about me, he just...doesn't love me."

"How about I take your mind off of this whole ordeal?"

"What?" she asked before he crushed his lips into hers. "No." she got out as he pushed her onto the couch. "Stop." she said, trying to push him off of her but he wouldn't budge. He instead lowered his lips to her neck and pinned her hands down. "Please stop." she said, on the verge of tears.

One couch away was Troy and the blonde that had brought him to the back of the club. He was very much into what they were doing until a soft, familiar cry reach his ears. He broke away from the kiss and looked around.

"Gabriella?"

"No baby. My name's Kayla." she said before going back to kissing him. He pushed her off of him and stood up.

"Excuse me." she crossed her arms and pouted as he left to go find the source of the familiar cry. What he found made his blood boil; Gabriella underneath some guy, crying her eyes out. Troy quickly pulled the guy of off her and threw him to the ground.

"What the hell is your problem?"

"I could ask you the same question. Didn't you see her crying?"

"Of course but do you really think I give a damn." the guy said, standing up and getting into Troy's face

"When a girl starts crying that means you've gone to far." Troy said before punching the guy in the face. "And you picked the wrong girl to mess with." he looked over at Gabriella, who still sat on the couch, crying, and his demeanor changed. "You okay Gabi?" she nodded before running into his arms and burying her face into his shirt. "Shh. It's okay Gabi. Everything's going to be just fine." he said, noticing her body shaking.

"Y-You called me Gabi." she said quietly.

"Yeah...so. I always call you Gabi."

"But it's the first time since we've been here...that you actually called me that." his eyes showed a certain softness as he stared at the fragile girl in his arms.

"Come on. Let's get you out of here." he said and led here away from the crowd that gathered around them. Upon arriving back into the main part of the club, their friends came up to them, each asking what happened. "Can we just go?"

"Sure." Sharpay answered, her brown eyes never leaving her best friend who was wrapped securely in Troy's arms. They all left the club and got into the limo. The ride back was silent, no one talked, no one asked questions, no one cracked jokes. They all knew something bad happened back at the club but neither Troy nor Gabriella wanted to say what.

Through the entire ride, Troy kept his arms around Gabriella, afraid that if he let her go, something bad would happen. She eventually fell asleep as she laid her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat. When Troy noticed this, he switched her position so her entire body was on his lap, making it easier for him to get her out of the car without waking her.

When they arrived back at the beach house, Troy carried Gabriella up to her room and gently placed her on her bed. He put the covers over her and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before leaving her to get some rest. As he walked away from her bed, a soft smile found its way to her lips causing a mirror reaction in Troy as his own smile played on his lips. He left her room, the smile still plastered on his face.

**A/N: All that stuff about the club...yeah I have no idea what it looks like inside of that club, all I know is that it exists. End of story.**


	4. Deck The Halls

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: I wish..._**

**A/N: this chapter's shorter than the others but only because I have to cut back on time since I write these the day before I release them.**

_Deck The Halls_

**December 4; 21** **more days until Christmas**

Troy awoke the next morning with a mild headache, despite the fact that he had drunk more than he usually did. His head should have been pounding but it wasn't. In fact, he hadn't been drunk since the moment he heard Gabriella cry out for help last night. It was like his protective instinct towards her, made him sober up in order to help her. He ran a hand through his hair before getting up and heading downstairs to find an aspirin. All occupants, minus one, turned at the sound of his footsteps. He gave them a short wave before going into the kitchen.

As he searched the cabinets for an aspirin, Chad walked into the kitchen. He took a seat on the counter top before turning to his best friend.

"So..." he drawled "wanna tell your best friend what happened last night?"

"Nothing happened?"

"If nothing happened, then why did you come from the back of the club with Gabriella holding onto you like her life depended on it?"

"I'd rather not talk about it." Troy said still searching for an aspirin.

"What are you looking for?"

"Aspirin."

"Third cabinet on the left, top shelf." he looked at Chad before following his directions, sure enough finding what he was looking for.

"Thanks." Troy said taking a pill from the bottle.

"Come on Troy just tell me what happened."

"I really don't want to talk about it." he said as he downed the pill and a glass of water.

"Alright fine. Keep this from your best friend." Troy smirked and looked at Chad.

"So glad you understand.

"Guys go get dressed. We're going out for breakfast." Taylor said as she came into the kitchen.

"Did Gabriella get up yet?"

"Nope. She's still sleeping."

"I better go check on her." Troy walked upstairs and into Gabriella's room. He sat down beside her and stroked her cheek. She stirred and groaned. "Time to get up sleepy head." she opened her eyes and smiled when she laid her eyes on him.

"Hey." she said raspily.

"Hey. You hungry?" she nodded and slowly got out of bed.

"What's for breakfast?"

"Actually we're going out to eat."

"Okay then let me go get dressed." he nodded and left her room to go to his own.

An hour later, everyone was dressed and ready to go. They all waited by the door for Sharpay to come from fixing her hair.

"Shar let's go, we're hungry." Ryan yelled and she came stomping down the stairs.

"Calm down Ry. Geez. It's not like Daniels is waiting for us."

"He's not. Then how are we getting there?"

"We're driving ourselves. There's an SUV and a sedan in the garage. I told Daniels he can take a few days off."

"Okay but do you know how to get to where we're going?"

"Of course. That's why I'm driving." she pushed past everyone else and went into the garage. "And I'm taking the Mercedes." she said as she stood next to the small Mercedes Benz, sitting in the garage next to a Lexus SUV.

"Who's driving the Lexus?"

"Doesn't matter to me. Who's the better driver?" everyone pointed to Troy and he sighed. "Then you're driving Troy." he nodded and went over to the driver's side of the SUV as Sharpay handed him the keys.

Sharpay, Zeke, Ryan and Destiny took the Mercedes while Troy, Gabriella, Chad, Jason, Taylor and Kelsi took the Lexus. Jason and Kelsi sat in the back seat, Chad and Taylor sat in the middle seat and Gabriella sat up front next to Troy in the driver's seat.

"I hope Shar knows where she's going." Kelsi said as they drove out of the garage.

"She claims she does so let's hope she's telling the truth." Taylor said.

It took only fifteen minutes for them to reach an I-Hop and park in the lot. The group of ten piled into the diner and waited until a table was ready for them. They all stood against the wall, nodding their head to the music playing on the radio. Finally a table was ready and they took their seats.

"So Shar what are we doing today?" Destiny asked as they looked through their menus.

"Well I was thinking of going into the city and visiting this toy store that's been around for a long time and afterwards going to see a movie then going out to dinner."

"That sounds fun."

"Yeah I know. I told you I have everything planned out. But some people..." she said referring to Ryan "don't believe me." Ryan rolled his eyes before returning them to his menu.

"Well I know what I want." Chad said putting down his menu.

"What's that?"

"Chocolate chip pancakes with a side order of bacon and sausage." Taylor answered for him and Chad smiled.

"How did you know?" he asked and she rolled her eyes before looking at him.

"Please Chad. I've known you for too long not to know." he kissed her cheek and wrapped an arm around her.

"See this is why I love you." everyone laughed and continued to search for what they wanted to eat. Pretty soon everyone knew what they wanted and ordered when the waiter came over.

After they were finished eating and talking, they paid for the food and left, starting out for the city. It took an hour to get to the city and a half an hour to find parking down on 59th street. When they did, they all headed to 5th avenue, to FAO Schwartz. All but Sharpay and Ryan were surprised to see the magnitude of the store. It wasn't huge like the Toys R' Us in Times Square but it was amazing enough. Just like Toys R' Us, the store was divided into different sections: the Barbie section, the Star Wars section, the Lego section, etc.

Everyone wanted to play with everything. They were like big kids in a candy store. They spent two hours in that store alone before deciding to head over to Toys R' Us. They found a parking lot near 42nd street and walked to Times Square. It was like FAO Schwartz all over again, except this time they decided to play man-hunt. As grown as they were they found time to act like kids again.

They split into teams of two and did rock-paper-scissors to find out who was it. Jason and Kelsi ended up losing. Everyone ran into different directions and into different sections of the store. Gabriella and Troy went downstairs to the electronics, Chad and Taylor went up to the Lego section, Sharpay and Zeke went to the Barbie section (no surprise there), and Ryan and Destiny went to the candy section.

Troy led Gabriella towards the back of the bottom floor before handing her a walkie talkie.

"What's this for?"

"Just in case we get separated." she smiled and took the device from him. As he finished his sentence, he saw Kelsi and Jason searching the floor for them. "There they are." he said and pushed her slightly to make her move. "Come on. We gotta get upstairs." she nodded and they quickly made their way towards the escalator but not before Kelsi spotted them.

"Jase I found Troy and Gabriella."

"Shit. Run." he ran to the first escalator he saw, which happened to be the down escalator, and ran up, grabbing Gabriella's hand. Once they had reached the first floor, not without protests from shoppers, they quickly ran to the next one. They got to the second floor and ran towards the Barbie house.

"What are you two doing here?" Sharpay asked when she saw them.

"Hiding. What else?" Gabriella answered as she was being dragged to the second floor of the house.

"We should be safe up here." Troy said as he inched towards the window.

"That was a close one."

"Yeah." an awkward silence fell between them and they looked anywhere but at the other. "So..."

"So...what have you been doing for the past three years?"

"Uh...you know school, work...stuff like that." she nodded and leaned against the shelf of dolls accessories. "W-What about you?"

"Same. Work, school." he nodded and scratched the back of his neck nervously. "C-Can I ask you a question?"

"Um...s-sure."

"Why haven't you come home the past three years?" he paled at the question and looked away from her.

"Uh It's...complicated."

"Complicated enough for me to understand?"

"Gabs I..."

"Found ya." Kelsi yelled. "Jason I found Troy and Gabriella." Jason came running up the stairs and smirked.

"Four for the price of two, alright."

Troy glanced over at Gabriella who still stood, waiting for an answer.

"Let's go help them find the others."

"Not until I get an answer Troy."

"Look Gabriella...I just...I had some things going on, okay? It was really no big deal." she nodded and went downstairs to catch up with Jason and Kelsi. Troy sighed and followed her.

After another hour, everyone else was found, though sometimes not in the most compromising position. Ryan and Destiny had been found in the corner of the Jurassic Park section, making out. A throat being cleared, broke them from eating each other's faces off and they blushed from being found that way.

The group left the store and headed over to the AMC theater on 42nd street, all in lively conversation except for the only couple that wasn't actually a couple.

"Gabriella are you going to keep ignoring me?" Troy whispered, making sure his friends didn't hear. She didn't answer him, instead she just kept looking ahead with her mouth wired shut. "Come on Gabi. Don't be like this." Gabriella whipped herself around, stopping Troy in his tracks. "Don't be like what, Troy? This is the first time in three years that I've seen you and when I ask why, the only thing you can say is _it's complicated_. How stupid do you think I am?"

"I don't think you're stupid Gabriella."

"Then why won't you tell me what's wrong? Why won't you open up to me like you used to?"

"Because it really is complicated."

"I can hardly believe that." Gabriella turned to walk away from him, when he grabbed her arm and turned her back around.

"I'm telling the truth Gabriella. What I've been going through for the past three years is complicated. I'm trying my best to make up for those three years. What more do you want from me?"

"For you to be honest and tell me what's really wrong."

"I-I can't do that Gabi."

"Then don't talk to me for the rest of this vacation." she pulled her arm out of his grip and ran to catch up with everyone else. Troy followed suit, making sure to keep his distance. He wanted to tell Gabriella the truth but with her having a boyfriend...it made everything even more complex than it already was.

'_I love you Gabriella but...you have someone else. That's why I can't tell you the truth_'he thought to himself as he followed his friends to the movie theater.

Gabriella followed through with her plan to ignore Troy, sitting next to Kelsi on one side of the row while Troy sat on the other. After the movie, the group made their way over to Ruby Tuesday's on 41st. Once again Gabriella tried to stay far away from Troy but everyone else wanted the girls on one side and the boys on the other so the girls could sit across from their boyfriends so Gabriella had to sit across from Troy, being that she was the only one without a boyfriend...well that was in their group of tight knit friends.

"Gabriella talk to me please." she lifted her eyes to glare at him before turning them back on the menu. He sighed before slouching in his chair. He didn't like this Gabriella. It reminded him too much of that time in high school she ignored him because he was stupid enough to tell his friends that she meant nothing to him when in reality...she meant everything to him. He wouldn't have never said what he said if he knew she was listening.

The waiter came minutes later and took everyone's order. Throughout dinner, everyone was stuck in conversation with each other while Troy and Gabriella stayed quiet, eating their dinner in silence. This did not go unnoticed by their friends however but they knew that whatever was going on between the two needed to be worked out by them.

The ride back to the beach house was silent, given the fact that Chad, Taylor, Jason and Kelsi had passed out in the back. Gabriella sat curled up against the window still giving Troy the silent treatment.

"I'm sorry Gabi." he said, hoping that she would answer him. "I really want to tell you why I haven't been home but I just can't."

"Why not?" she asked, keeping her eyes out of the window.

"Because...it's hard to explain."

"What's so hard to explain about it?"

"Everything..."

"But why can't you at least tell me part of it?"

"Because telling you anything about it will just make things more complicated than they already are." she looked at him, not saying a word. "I want to tell you, I really do but...I don't think now's a good time."

"When will it be a good time?"

"I don't know. Maybe by the end of this vacation I'll be able to tell you."

"Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"That you will tell me."

"I promise Gabs." she smiled before turning back to the window. When they got back to the beach house, everyone went straight to bed. Troy lingered in the living room for a few minutes, not really interested in sleeping.

"You okay?" he turned his head and saw Gabriella standing at the bottom step. He smiled and nodded.

"Yeah I'm fine." she smiled and nodded.

"Night then."

"Night Gabs. Sweet dreams." as she climbed the stairs, Troy listened to every step before hearing her door close. He stepped onto the balcony of the house, that overlooked the beach, and leaned against the banister. He stayed out there for a few minutes before breathing in one final breath of the cold air and heading inside to follow in his friends' footsteps and getting some sleep.


	5. This Year

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: Really I wish..._**

**A/N: most chapter that are made during the week will probably be shorter, meaning that the ones made on Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be longer until Christmas vacation starts. I'm so short on time when I come home, it's hard for me to think of what to write so unless I actually make more than one chapter during the weekend most chapters will be short...like this one. Like I said before, every place with the exception of Sharpay's beach house is real.**

_This Year_

**December 5; 20 more days until Christmas**

The next morning was hectic due to Sharpay's last minute announcement that they were going up to the Pocono Mountains for a couple of days. So now everyone was running around trying to pack things that would last them for a few days. By ten, everyone was packed and ready to go.

"It's a good thing I didn't make our reservations until two." she said as she ushered everyone into the garage. The seating arrangements were the same as yesterday with Sharpay, Zeke, Ryan and Destiny in the Mercedes and everyone else in the Lexus, with Troy driving, of course.

As they headed towards the highway, Chad leaned over and turned on the radio, trying to find something to listen to.

"Where is it?" he asked himself as he changed stations.

"Chad what are you looking for?" Troy asked as he kept his eyes on the road.

"A good station."

"Why don't you just put a cd in?" Taylor asked and he smiled at her.

"I always knew you were brilliant." Taylor glared playfully at him and he went through his bag looking for the right cd. "Ah...found it." he put the radio on cd mode and slid the cd into the player. He went through the songs until he found the song he was searching for. He sat back as Kat DeLuna's _In The End_ blast through the speakers.

"I love this song." Kelsi said from the back seat as she moved her head to the beat. The two girls in the back began singing and moving around while the one up front just moved her lips to the song. Troy glanced over at Gabriella, a soft smile forming on his face. He knew she didn't want anyone to hear her, that's why she sung low, but Troy's hearing was a sharp as a hawk and he could hear every word that came out of her mouth.

'_Her voice still sounds like it did back in high school.'_ he thought as his smile widened. The rest of the trip continued like this, the four people in the back sung their heads off to a song while the two up front just sang low. The group finally stopped at a gas station where Chad nearly tripped a fell flat on his face just to get to the bathroom.

Troy got out of the SUV, followed by Gabriella who was making her way to the store.

"Gabs." Troy said and she turned to him. "Can you tell the guy twenty on three?" she smiled and nodded. "Oh and can you get me a Pepsi?" she rolled her eyes and nodded. "Thanks." he said handing her the money. She walked inside and went to the freezer aisle. She pulled a Pepsi and a Sprite out of the freezer. She walked up to the cashier and put the two sodas on the counter.

"Isn't there anything in here that doesn't have over one hundred and fifty calories?" Destiny asked as she walked up to Gabriella.

"Um...the fruit."

"Ooo good choice." she grabbed an apple from out of the basket and handed the guy a five, receiving four dollars back. "See you when we get there." she said before leaving the store. Gabriella laughed and turned back to the cashier.

"These and twenty on three." the guy nodded and she paid for the sodas and the gas. After getting her change, she left the store and climbed back into the SUV. She set both sodas into the cup holders and leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes.

"You okay?" she opened her eyes, finding Troy staring right at her.

"Yeah I'm fine just tired." he nodded and climbed into the SUV. They sat in silence waiting for everyone else to get back. Finally Chad, Taylor, Jason and Kelsi climbed back into the SUV and the silence was broken. Minutes later they were pulling out of the gas station, following Sharpay to a destination they had never seen before.

It took another hour to get to the timeshares, a area of house like communities that served as the hotels. They pulled up to the main office and waited while Sharpay went inside. She came back out and came up to Gabriella's side of the SUV. Gabriella rolled down the window, allowing her to be able to speak.

"Here's your key." she said handing Gabriella a key card. "You guys are in number thirty-four."

"Thanks Shar." Gabriella said and Sharpay smiled before heading back to her car and driving away. Troy pulled out of the driveway after her and followed her until they got to their house number. He pulled into the parking space and turned off the car. Everyone got out and went into the trunk to get their things.

Gabriella opened the door to the house and everyone dragged their stuff inside. They all looked around the inside of the house. They set their stuff in the living room and went to look around. Troy, Jason, Kelsi, Chad and Taylor looked downstairs while Gabriella strayed away and went up a flight of stairs that led to an open bedroom. There were twin beds sitting side by side, with a in table separating them. She sat on one of the beds and slowly laid her head down. In a few minutes she was fast asleep.

When Troy walked back upstairs with the rest of them, he noticed that Gabriella was nowhere to be found. He didn't alert his friends though, knowing they would overreact. He waited until their backs were turned before walking up the stairs that Gabriella had climbed a few minutes earlier. He was relieved when he found Gabriella fast asleep. He gently moved her under the covers and went back downstairs.

"Hey where's Gabriella?" Taylor asked, finally noticing the absence of her friend.

"She's upstairs sleeping." Troy answered as he sat on the couch and turned on the television.

"Upstairs?" Troy pointed to the balcony type landing and Taylor made an 'O' with her mouth.

An hour had past when Gabriella finally woke up. Upon hearing the sound of the television, she wandered downstairs to find her friends in front of the tv.

"Hey guys." she said and they all looked up, smiling.

"Hey Gabriella." they said and she took a seat next to Taylor.

"So are we doing anything today besides just sitting here?"

"Doubt it. Sharpay hasn't called or came over so we're probably just going to stay here for today." Jason said and Gabriella nodded. Her attention was slowly drawn to the dark blonde guy sitting on the other end of the sofa, who was busy staring at the television.

"How does the downstairs look?"

"It's really nice. There's two bathrooms and two bedrooms." Kelsi answered.

"Really?"

"Yep and one bathroom has a Jacuzzi type bath. Can't wait to try that one out." Chad said walking into the living room with a bag of chips in his hands.

"Where'd you get that from?" Troy asked finally tearing his attention from the tv.

"I brought it back when we were at the gas station."

"You were holding out on us?" Jason asked.

"No."

"Yes you were." Troy said and quickly jumped over the sofa. Chad ran away from his best friend and went downstairs. "Get back here Danforth." the girls laughed and Jason went to join in the chase. Jason sat at the top of the stairs and waited until Chad came back up. At the sight of him, Jason outstretched his foot, causing Chad to trip and fall up the stairs. All three girls were in stitches on the floor. Troy jumped onto Chad's back and took the bag out of his hands. "Victory." he yelled and went to reclaim his place on the sofa.

Jason returned to his place on the floor beside Kelsi and took some chips from Troy.

"You girls want any?" Jason asked with a full mouth.

"Ew...no thanks." Taylor said, voicing the answer of the other two.

Seven o'clock rolled around and the doorbell rung. Kelsi ran down the stairs and opened the door with much force.

"What took you so long?" she asked as she faced the confused blonde in front of her.

"What are you talking about?"

"We nearly went crazy sitting here and not doing anything."

"Well sorry. We're going to dinner, you guys coming?"

"Of course." just as she said that, everyone else came rushing down the stairs. They filed into the Lexus and followed Sharpay to a restaurant about two miles away. After dinner, they went to a small indoor miniature golf course and played a few games before heading back to the hotel.

"Night guys." Taylor said as she, Chad, Jason and Kelsi walked downstairs.

"Night." Troy said as he and Gabriella went upstairs. "You don't mind this do you?" he asked as he walked up the stairs behind her.

"Mind what? You sleeping across from me? Why shouldn't I mind? It's not like we're in the same bed or anything." Troy chuckled nervously.

"True."

"Maybe I should've went down to the bathroom first."

"For what?"

"To change. Duh."

"Oh right."

"Um...can you close your eyes? Just for a minute."

"Sure." he closed his eyes and she quickly stripped out of her clothes and changed into her night clothes.

"Okay you can open them now." he opened his eyes and his breath was knocked out of him as he laid his eyes on her. Though only clad in pajama pants and a t-shirt, Troy thought she was the most beautiful thing on the earth. "Troy?" he snapped out of his daze and looked into her eyes.

"Uh?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." she nodded and he moved to strip down to his boxers.

"Whoa wait a second." she said and he stopped. "At least let me turn around first."

"It's not like you haven't seen me half naked before."

"I know but still..." he rolled his eyes and waited for her to turn around. Once her back was to him, he took off his pants and his shirt and pulled out a wife-beater and pajama pants.

"You can turn around now." Gabriella turned around and her eyes swept over him. She never realized before how well built he was.

"Basketball has done you good huh?" she asked and he smirked.

"Yeah. It comes in handy when it comes to impressing the ladies." she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah...sure."

"You don't believe me?"

"No I believe you but I don't see why ladies would be impressed with you."

"Hey." he moved towards her and began tickling her. "Take that back."

"Never."

"Take it back."

"No." she giggled.

"Do it or I won't stop."

"Okay. Okay. Fine. I'll take it back. Just stop." she said between laughs he stopped and they realized the position they were in, him straddling her waist, her hair messed up. He quickly got off of her and went back to his bed.

"S-Sorry about that." she shook her head and gave him a small smile.

"It's okay...really." he looked up at their eyes met. He broke eye contact and cleared his throat.

"We should get some sleep." she nodded and got under the covers.

"Night Troy." she said turning off the light.

"Night Gabs." he said and crawled under the blanket. Through the darkness, he could barely make out her outline. Her back was to him but he knew she was still awake. It took her fifteen minutes to fall asleep but the second he knew she was, he climbed out of bed and walked over to her. He sat down beside her and stroked her cheek. He bent over and kissed her temple. "I love you Gabriella." he whispered.

"I love you too Troy." she said in her sleep and he smiled softly before going back to his bed and falling asleep.


	6. Sleigh Ride

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: it's on my Christmas list...seriously it is_**

_Sleigh Ride_

**December 6; 19 more days until Christmas**

Troy awoke the next morning to the smell of something cooking. As he opened his eyes, he saw Gabriella bending over her suitcase, probably looking for something to wear.

"Morning." he said and she turned around, a smile forming on her lips.

"Morning."

"What smells so good?" he asked rising from the pillow.

"Tay made pancakes."

"Alright." she giggled and stood up. "Where are you going?"

"To shower and change. I mean it is ten o'clock."

"Already?"

"Yeah. You slept pretty heavy but you weren't the only one."

"Who else?"

"Your best friend that's who else. Chad was knocked out like a light. It took Tay an hour to wake him up." Troy chuckled and shook his head.

"That's just like him."

"And that's just like you, too. No wonder why you two are best friends." he smiled sheepishly and she shook her head. "I'm going to take a shower. I'll see you in a few minutes." he watched her descend the staircase before getting out of bed and heading downstairs.

"Morning guys." he said as he entered the dining room area.

"Morning Troy." Kelsi said, vouching for Jason and Chad since they were busy stuffing their faces.

"Hey Troy." Taylor said as she came out of the kitchen with two plates in hand. "Here." she said, handing him a plate. "Enjoy." he looked at the food hungrily before he started devouring it. "What is it with guys and their food?" Taylor asked looking disgustedly at the three boys.

"They love to eat I guess." Kelsi said, shrugging her shoulders.

"That's not eating, that's...I don't even know what that's called." she looked at Chad who looked as if he wasn't chewing. "Chew before you swallow Chad or you'll choke." she said and Chad started chewing his food.

Gabriella came back upstairs minutes later, dressed in a white turtle-neck and jeans. Kelsi, in turn, went downstairs to get herself ready.

"You ate already?" Troy asked.

"Yeah. I ate while you were sleeping."

"Oh. So how come Chad and Jason were eating when I got down here?"

"Because they had more than one plate." Taylor said, answering Troy's question as she went by cleaning off the table.

"Should've known." he said, rolling his eyes. He brought his empty plate into the kitchen and put it in the sink. "So anyone know what we're doing today?" he asked as he leaned against the counter.

"Shar says there's a ski lodge not to far from here. So I'm guessing that's a hint that we're going there." Taylor said and Troy nodded. He watched as Gabriella went from one side of the living room to the next, probably looking for the remote. "Stop staring or someone will notice." Taylor said and Troy snapped his eyes to hers.

"What?" Taylor rolled her eyes and turned around so she was standing the same way Troy was.

"You were staring at her. If you would have stared any longer, she would have known something was up."

"I can't help it. Last night, she...she said she loved me."

"What? She did?"

"Well she was kind of asleep when she said it but...still."

"Well then that should give you the incentive to tell her."

"I did. That's why she said it."

"But she was asleep. She probably thought she was dreaming. You need to tell her when she's awake and knows what is being said."

"I can't."

"And why not?"

"One word: Will."

"Oh yeah..." Taylor trailed, remembering Gabriella's boyfriend. Taylor never wanted Gabriella to agree to being Will's girlfriend, always knowing that one day Troy would tell Gabriella how he feels. Now that Troy was so close to caving, an obstacle stands in his way.

"Have you guys seen the remote?" Gabriella asked coming into the kitchen area.

"Probably under Chad's pillow. I swear once he gets a hold of a remote, he won't let go. I'll go check." she left the kitchen, leaving Troy and Gabriella alone.

"So...how did you sleep last night?" Troy asked, starting small talk.

"Pretty good. You?"

"Same." she nodded and silence fell between them.

"Found it." Taylor said and walked back into the kitchen, handing Gabriella the remote.

"Thanks." she smiled and went into the living room.

"I give you two time to talk and all you can do is make small talk?" Taylor asked lowly.

"What do you expect? It's been three years since we've seen each other. Conversation won't be that great between us."

"It should be. Not to mention you two were being pretty comfortable at New Roc City."

"We were having fun. It's easier to be comfortable when you're not concentrating on it."

"Riiight."

"Whatever. I'm going to take a shower." he said when he noticed Kelsi coming upstairs. "Later." he said and went upstairs to get his clothes. "I called dibbs on the shower." he called as he came back downstairs with his clothes.

"No way." Chad said and raced Troy downstairs. Soon enough a door was heard, slamming followed by a knocking sound. "Come on Troy." everyone laughed and Taylor went over to Gabriella, sitting down beside her.

"So how did you sleep last night?"

"Pretty good, except..." Gabriella turned around and looked at her best friend. "Tay can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"Last night, I had this dream and in it..." she bit her lip, afraid of continuing.

"What?"

"In my dream, Troy told me he loved me...but it sounded as if...he was actually telling me and not his dream self." Taylor wore a look of shock. Though she knew that Troy had told Gabriella his true feelings as she slept, she didn't think that Gabriella would have actually remembered.

"Wow."

"I know. What do you think it means?"

"I..." the doorbell rung, interrupting their conversation and Taylor got up to get it. "Hey Shar." she said as she spotted the blonde in front of her.

"Hey Tay. Is everyone ready?"

"Not yet. I'm done, Gabi's done and Kelsi's done. Troy's in the shower and the other two are downstairs somewhere." Sharpay nodded and Taylor stepped aside so Sharpay and the others could come in.

Troy came back upstairs minutes later and was surprised to see Zeke, Sharpay, Ryan and Destiny sitting around the living room.

"Hey." they waved and went back to looking at the television. Troy took a seat in the dining room area and put his head down, still tired from the night before.

An hour later, Jason and Chad were done taking their shower and the group headed out. In fifteen minutes, the group was on the road, headed to a ski lodge that was about two hours away.

"I thought she said it wasn't far from the hotel?" Chad mumbled to Taylor as he climbed out of the SUV, two hours later.

"She did." Taylor said as they walked up to the front office.

"Ready to get some skiing done?" Sharpay asked.

"Guys don't ski." Chad said.

"Yeah they snowboard." Jason said.

"I ski." Ryan said and the two boys looked at each other before breaking into laughter.

"That was a good one Ry." Chad said.

"Yeah you almost had us." Jason said.

"I-I wasn't kidding." Ryan said and Chad and Jason looked at him in shock.

"Come with us my friend." Chad said and pulled Ryan off towards the snowboarding shed with Jason and Zeke in tow.

"You're not going to go with them?" Gabriella asked Troy.

"Well I was actually going to ask if you wanted to come with."

"I don't even know how to ski much less snow board."

"I could teach you." she thought for a second before nodding and following him to the snowboarding shed. After getting suited up, Troy led her over to the lift. They went up to the top of the mountain and stood there. "You ready for this?" Gabriella nodded, suddenly feeling queasy, and shook her head.

"I don't think I can do this."

"Look at me Gabriella." she looked up into his blue eyes, feeling her nerves subside. "It'll be okay. You can do it." she nodded and he smiled. "I'll see you at the bottom okay?" she nodded and watched him slid down the side of the mountain. She took a deep breath and followed behind him.

The mountain side was more of a hill side so it didn't take long for Gabriella to reach the bottom and in one piece. Troy smiled as she squealed out of happiness for actually doing it.

"Good job Gabs. You wanna try it again? This time with tricks?"

"I don't think I'm ready for tricks yet. But I would like to try it again." he smiled and led her back to the lift.

They went for a few more rounds before heading inside the lodge. They went into the lounge area and ordered two cups of hot chocolate, sitting side by side near the fire place.

"Hey do you remember back in high school when you and Chad had that senior prank to glue coins to like every surface you could find?" she asked as she curled up on the couch, drink in hand.

"Oh yeah I remember that. It took them weeks to remove all of them. There was also that one when we like went around the school after practice and like drew stuff on all the boards."

"I remember that one. I remember coming into homeroom and seeing nothing but stupid drawings on the board. That was you guys?"

"Yep." she giggled and took a sip of her hot chocolate. "So many memories were in that school. It's kind of hard to believe that we don't go there anymore."

"Yeah it is...remember Twinkle Town."

"How could I forget? It was like the highlight of my junior year besides winning the championship. It was the third best thing on my list of what made junior year worth wild, the championship being second." he said staring at his drink.

"What's the first?" she asked and he smiled before looking up at her.

"Meeting you." she blushed slightly and looked at her own cup.

"That's first on my list too." she said and looked up at him, their eyes connecting.

"Guys." they looked up at the doorway and saw Zeke waving them over. "Come on we're leaving." they nodded and followed Zeke out the door.

"Dude you want me to drive?" Chad asked and Troy nodded.

"Thanks."

"No problem. You've been driving since we started on this adventure." Troy hoped into the backseat while Chad climbed into the driver's seat. Taylor took Gabriella's spot in the passenger seat and Gabriella sat next to Troy. On the way back, everyone except for Chad drifted off to sleep. Troy was on the verge of sleep when Gabriella subconsciously snuggled up to him. He woke up in shock but quickly wrapped an arm around her shoulder and fell into a deep sleep.

"No you wake them up."

"I don't want to. They look too cute." Troy opened his eyes slightly, finding three people staring at him.

"What are you guys talking about?" he asked sleepily.

"You and Gabriella of course." Sharpay answered. Troy looked at her with much confusion before realizing that his arm was still wrapped around Gabriella and she was still sleeping against him.

"Are we back at the hotel?"

"Yeah." he nodded before gently shaking Gabriella awake.

"What?" she whined.

"Gabs we're here." she opened her eyes and looked around before nodding. He helped her out of the car and upstairs, where she openly stripped with him in front of her. She put on her night clothes and climbed under the covers.

"Night Troy." she mumbled, knocking him out of his shock of seeing her half-naked.

"Uh...night...Gabriella." he stripped out of his clothes and put on his night clothes and climbed under the covers, shutting off the light.

**A/N: I've never been snowboarding so that's why I didn't go into much detail about it.**


	7. Not This Year

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer:...still on my Christmas list_**

**A/N: okay seriously...you guys know I'm going to update it the next day. Is it really necessary to write _update soon_? Anywho...you guys actually get to see an interaction between Gabriella and Will. Troy's kind of emo at the end of this chapter so beware.**

_Not This Year_

**December 7; 18 more days until Christmas**

The next morning, everyone decided to do their own thing. Chad and Taylor took the SUV to get some breakfast with Zeke and Sharpay. Ryan and Destiny decided to sleep in and Jason and Kelsi went to the hotel's indoor heated pool.

Troy awoke before Gabriella and went downstairs to take a shower. After coming out of the shower, Troy was surprised to find Gabriella awake, sitting on the couch, watching tv.

"Hey." he said and she looked over at him.

"Hey." she said with a smile.

"When did you get up?"

"When you went to take your shower."

"How come you didn't tell me?"

"Cause I woke up after you had started down the stairs."

"Oh. So I'm guessing I accidentally woke you up?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry about that." he said and took a seat next to her.

"It's okay." she turned back to the television and they sat in silence.

"Hey do you wanna maybe take a walk? Maybe around the lake?"

"Yeah sure."

"Okay then go take a shower and we can go walk around." she nodded and headed upstairs to get her clothes. Troy watched as she came back downstairs and smiled at him before going down to the bathroom. He smiled at her retreating form and turned back to the tv.

Once she was done, they grabbed their coats and left. They walked down the pathway until they reached the lake. Gabriella looked out over the water and took a deep breath.

"It's so beautiful out here." she said and Troy nodded.

"Yeah. I just wish it would snow."

"Why?"

"Cause I've only seen snow twice: at the lodge here and the one in Utah."

"You mean the one we met at?" he looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah. That was the first time I ever saw snow before." Gabriella nodded and the two walked in silence before coming across a bench. They stopped and Troy ran a hand through his hair. "You wanna sit?" she nodded and took a seat on the bench. He sat beside her and the silence continued. "So..."

"So..." she mocked with a giggle. He gave a short laugh before turning serious.

"H-How long have you and Will been going out?"

"How did you know about Will?"

"Taylor." she nodded and stared at her hands, folded across her lap.

"We've been going out for almost a year now."

"How did you two meet?"

"We met at school. We were both in the same Biology class. We clicked almost instantly." she told him and he nodded at every word. _'But not as fast as we did.'_ she thought as she glanced up at him.

"When did he actually ask you out?"

"About two months after we met. He took me to this nice restaurant and asked me to be his girlfriend." Troy laughed and Gabriella looked up at him. "What's so funny?"

"It sounded more like he was going to propose to you instead of ask you to be his girlfriend."

"I guess that is kind of funny." she said with a laugh. "So what about you? Have you been seeing anyone lately?" Troy shook his head and she cocked her head to one side. "Why not?"

"I guess it's just because I can't find the right girl."

"How can you find the right girl if you don't give any a try?"

'_Because I already know who the right girl is but she's taken.'_ he thought to himself before answering her out loud. "I guess I can tell if a girl is right for me." he said and looked her in the eyes. "I guess my _heart_ will tell me if a girl is right for me."

Her brown eyes stared into his, searching for something that he wasn't willing to share. She gently cupped his cheek and he leaned into her touch, closing his eyes. The warmth of his skin against hers sent a chill down her spine and she lost herself for a moment.

"Troy." she said softly and he opened his eyes. She said no more but instead leaned in closer to him. He did the same, slowly closing the gap between them.

Her lips were a few centimeters away from his but before she could close it completely, her cell phone rang. She moved away from him and took her phone out of her pocket, the front flashing **Will**. She looked up at Troy and smiled sadly.

"I-I should take this." he nodded and watched her walk away. He sighed and leaned back against the bench. "Hello?"

"Hey babe."

"Hey Will. What's up?"

"Just calling to see what you were doing."

"I'm spending time with my friends. I told you that before."

"I know but I miss you. Can you blame me for that?" she smiled softly and shook her head.

"No I can't blame you for that. I miss you too." she leaned against the wall of one of the houses and looked out over the lake.

"So how long are you staying in New York?"

"Until Christmas I think." she said as Troy walked towards her. She tried to get his attention but he didn't look up at her. "Can you hold on for one second?"

"Sure." she put the mouth piece against her chest and ran after Troy. "Troy where are you going?" he stopped and turned around.

"I think I'm going to go back to the hotel."

"You don't wanna continue our walk around the lake?"

"No, not really."

"Oh." she said, disappointedly. "Okay then I'll come with you."

"No you talk to your boyfriend. It's not like your going to be seeing him anytime soon." she nodded though she really did wanna walk back with Troy. "I'll see you later." he said with a fake smile on his face that faltered as he walked away. Gabriella pretended like she didn't notice when in reality she did and she wanted to know why Troy was upset all of a sudden.

"Gabriella are you there?" she heard through the ear piece and she raised her phone back up to her ear.

"Yeah I-I'm here."

"So how is everyone?"

"Everyone's fine. Look Will can I call you back later? There's something I need to do."

"Oh okay. Sure. Talk to you later. Love ya."

"Love you too." she said even though she didn't mean it. She only said it to make Will happy. She really didn't love him, she just didn't want him to get suspicious. Her heart belonged to one person and only one person. "Bye." she hung up the phone and ran back to the hotel. "Troy?" she called as she went inside. "Troy I know you're here." she said and ran upstairs. She stopped when she saw him lying on his bed asleep. She sighed and walked slowly over to him. She knelt down beside him and stared at his face. "I'm so sorry Troy." she whispered and kissed his cheek. She got up off the floor and went downstairs.

The second she was no longer in sight, Troy opened his eyes and stared at the empty space. A small smile played on his face as he remembered the feeling of her lips on his skin. After thinking about it for a few more minutes, he closed his eyes, letting himself succumb to sleep.

Troy stayed up on the landing for four hours. Everyone was worried about him but no one wanted to go check on him. Gabriella was the most worried since she was the only one who knew why he was up there in the first place. She finally got up and went upstairs, finding him still on his bed facing the wall. She sat down on his bed and touched his shoulder.

"Troy?" he didn't answer but his eyes were open. "Troy please talk to me?" he still didn't respond. She sighed and looked away before getting an idea. "Are you hungry?" she asked but he still made no move to respond. "Come on Troy. Everyone's worried about you...including me. You've got to come downstairs or at least let me know that you're not mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you." he said and turned his blue eyes towards her.

"Then why won't you talk to me?" she asked and he went back to staring at the wall. "Troy..."

"Gabriella." Chad called from downstairs and she got up, going over to the edge of the landing. "We're going to get something to eat. You coming?"

"Give me one second." she said and Chad nodded. She went back over to Troy's bed and retook her spot. "Troy you wanna go get something to eat?" she asked and all he did was close his eyes. She sighed and brushed some of his hair out of his face. "Troy I really wish you would talk to me." she said lowly, running her fingers through his hair. "I hate when you're like this."

"Gabriella you coming?" Jason called and Gabriella sighed.

"Coming." she called before placing a soft kiss on his temple. "Talk to me...please." Troy's heart broke in two as he heard the hurt and desperation in her voice. He really did want to talk to her but he couldn't, not until he felt like himself enough to be able to handle the burning fact that she would never be his. He took a deep breath before falling into a restless slumber.


	8. White Christmas

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer:...it's still on my Christmas list along with Zac Efron and the HSM 2 DVD_**

**A/N: I don't know if you guys have noticed but the titles of my chapters are Christmas songs...though the last one was sort of a sad Christmas song. _Not This Year_ is a song by Aly & A.J. on their _Acoustic Hearts Of Winter_ CD. It's a lovely but sad song.**

_White Christmas_

**December 8; 17 more days until Christmas**

Troy awoke early the next morning, earlier than usual. He quickly turned his head to look over at Gabriella's bed, only to find her sleeping soundly. He got up and quietly made his way downstairs. He guessed that it couldn't have been no earlier than four from the lack of light outside. He sat down on the sofa and leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

"What are you doing up so early?" he shot his head up and sighed in relief when he saw Kelsi staring at him.

"I guess my body had enough sleep." she nodded and took a seat next to him.

"You wanna tell me what's been going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well one, Gabriella said that you started acting strange after she got a call from Will. Two, you've been in that bed for over twelve hours. Three, you wouldn't talk to Gabriella." he stared at the floor instead of looking at Kelsi. "You really hurt her yesterday. She didn't want to admit that you did but we could tell."

"I don't mean to hurt her..."

"Then why do you?"

"I don't know. I guess...finding out that she has a boyfriend has just had a bigger effect on me than I thought."

"Then why don't you just tell her how you feel?"

"Because she seems happy with Will. I don't want to ruin that."

"But you're not happy."

"My happiness doesn't matter when it comes to her. She deserves to be happy."

"And you don't?"

"Like I said, my happiness doesn't matter. As long as she's happy...I'm happy."

"Are you sure she's happy though? I mean have you ever seen her smile when she's talking to Will?"

"No but that's because she usually just goes off somewhere else to talk to him."

"Next time she talks to him just...see what she does." Kelsi lightly touched his shoulder and he looked at her. "She cares about you, Troy. She cares about you more than anything in this world. Don't give up on her." he smiled and nodded.

"Thanks Kels."

"You're welcome. Now go try and get as much sleep as possible." she said as she stood up.

"Why?"

"Cause Shar says we're leaving today."

"Why does she keep telling us at the last minute?"

"Actually she told us last night but you were to busy sleeping." Troy blushed in embarrassment and Kelsi smiled. "Night Troy."

"Night Kels." she walked back down to her room. The smile slowly slipped from his face and he sighed. He sat there for a few minutes before getting up and going back upstairs. As he reached the landing, he spotted Gabriella sitting up with her legs tucked under her chin. "Gabi?" she looked up and he could see fear in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I saw a spider." she said lowly. "It was crawling on me." she looked as if she were about to cry and he walked over to her, taking a seat in front of her.

"Shh. It's okay. It's not going to hurt you." Troy pushed her hair out of her face and smiled softly at her. He knew of her fear of spiders...well more like phobia. He remembered one time in high school when she had seen a spider crawling on the lockers, she nearly fainted. "Why didn't you scream for someone to help you?"

"I couldn't. My voice wouldn't come out." he nodded and looked away briefly before her voice brought his eyes back to her face. "C-Can I sleep with you...please?" he nodded and held out his hand. She took it and he pulled her out of her ball. She quickly threw her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and rubbed circles on her back.

"Calm down Gabi." he said as she began to dry heave and hyperventilate. He picked her up and brought her over to his bed. He set her down close to the wall before climbing in next to her and wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Thank you Troy." she whispered as she slowly drifted in and out of sleep.

"You're welcome Gabriella." he whispered and she smiled before letting her exhaustion take over. He smiled and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before falling asleep.

"Why do we always catch them like this?"

"Cause we know they know that they like each other but refuse to say it."

Troy's hearing was going in and out. He didn't know if those voices were real or not but they were starting to annoy him.

"Will you please shut up. I'm trying to sleep here." he mumbled and heard a loud 'hmph.'

"Well excuse me Troy Bolton but some of us want to leave." he opened his eyes and saw Sharpay, Taylor and Chad standing over him.

"What do you guys want?"

"Well we were coming up here to get you and Gabriella up but instead of finding Gabriella in her bed and you in yours, we found both of you snuggled up together in yours." Troy looked at Sharpay in confusion before remembering earlier that morning. He looked over and there, plain as day, was Gabriella, still sleeping. His face softened as he looked at her serene face but soon remembered his friends.

"Uh...this is not what it looks like." he said and propped himself up on his elbows.

"Uh huh. Save it for the birds, Bolton. I just want to get back to Long Island. So if you don't mind, get a move on." Sharpay left followed by Chad and Taylor and Troy sighed. He looked back over at Gabriella and shook her gently.

"Gabs time to get up. We gotta go." she opened her eyes and smiled when the first thing she saw was him.

"Morning." she said groggily.

"Morning. Come on it's time for us to get up before Shar has a tantrum." Gabriella nodded and sat up to stretch. As she stretched, her shirt slightly lifted and Troy could see slivers of some of the skin on her back. She looked back at him and smiled. He smiled back and moved so she could get up. He stood up after her, ready to get his stuff ready to leave when she turned towards him. She looked at him before leaning up a placing a soft kiss on his cheek. "What was that for?"

"For last night. You really helped me calm down." _'You always do'_ she thought to herself as she looked down, finding her feet to be interesting. Troy put a finger under her chin and lifted her head, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"You're welcome." he said and smiled, causing her to smile back. "You better go take your shower. I need to pack."

"You don't actually."

"Why?"

"I kind of did for you before I went to sleep last night." his smile widened and he chuckled.

"You're a life saver, you know that?"

"So I've been told." he shook his head and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry about yesterday."

"It's okay Troy. I'm not mad at you...I never was."

"Can you two hurry up." Sharpay yelled and Troy rolled his eyes.

"Better hurry before the ice queen comes back." Gabriella nodded and grabbed her things before running downstairs. Troy sighed and sat on his bed. He had to get used to the fact that she was off limits or he would lose his mind. His eye caught sight of his suitcase and he noticed clean clothes sitting on top of it. He smiled and shook his head. _'She really is a life saver.'_ he thought and grabbed the clothes from off the suitcase before heading downstairs.

An hour later, everyone was ready to hit the road. Troy retook his place as the designated driver and Gabriella retook her place in the passenger seat.

"So Chad did you ever get to try out the Jacuzzi tub?" Jason asked.

"Yeah me and Tay had a little fun last night...if you know what I mean."

"Chad." Taylor whined and hit his shoulder.

"What?" everyone started laughing before Gabriella spoke up.

"You're not supposed to tell people about that Chad."

"Oh right...forget I said anything Jase."

"Too late for that Chad." Troy said, looking through the rear view mirror at his best friend.

"Yeah Chad now we know." Kelsi said and Chad groaned. Another wave of laughter erupted and Chad sank down in his seat.

Two hours later, the group pulled up to the Evans' beach house. Troy followed Sharpay into the garage and turned off the engine. Stepping out of the car, everyone felt happy to be back at the beach house, even though it meant going back to separate rooms. They walked into the living room and plopped down anywhere they could. Chad took a seat on the Lazy Boy and Taylor sat in his lap. Ryan and Destiny sat on the love seat, Sharpay, Zeke, Jason and Kelsi sat on the couch and Troy and Gabriella comfortably sat on the floor.

"I'm so tired." Destiny said and leaned her head against Ryan's shoulder.

"Same here." Taylor said and leaned back against Chad.

"What are we going to do for the next two weeks?" Destiny asked Sharpay.

"Well for today we can stay here. Tomorrow we're going to Madison Square Garden to see the Cirque du Soleil."

"Ooo we're going to see Wintuk?"

"Yeah."

"Yay."

"Then the day after we're going to Central Park for the winter festival. Then the day after that we're going to go to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and do a little ice skating and then to Radio City Music Hall to see the spectacular. From the eleventh to the thirteenth we'll just be hanging around here. On the fourteenth we're going to the movie to see _Alvin and the Chipmunks_. And for the rest...I haven't planned that out yet."

"So you basically have the next week planned out?" Kelsi asked.

"Yeah."

"Well I'm going to get some sleep." Zeke said and stood up. "Wake me up at dinner." he went upstairs and went into the room he shared with Chad and Ryan.

"So what are we going to do for the next four hours?" Chad asked.

"Anything you guys want." Sharpay said and went into the den. The ones left looked at each other before Chad called to Sharpay.

"Hey Shar you wouldn't happen to have a hot tub?"

"Actually." she said as she came back into the room. "I do." Chad smiled and ran upstairs, coming back down a few minutes later with only his trunks on.

It didn't take long before Chad, Taylor, Sharpay, Ryan and Destiny went out to the hot tub that sat on the back porch of the house, only two feet from the sliding door. Jason and Kelsi decided to play guitar hero while Troy and Gabriella stayed in the living room and to watch tv. Their minds were focused solely on the television and nothing else. It would only be certain times when they would look up to comment on something. They really were just enjoying each other's company.

When dinner came around, they ordered out. The pizza came forty-five minutes after Troy called and everyone gathered in the dining room to eat. Afterwards, Chad and Taylor went back to the hot tub, Ryan and Destiny joined Jason and Kelsi in playing video games, Zeke and Sharpay cuddled up on the love seat, Gabriella went into the game room to watch the others play and Troy went to sleep.


	9. Jingle Bells

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer:...still waiting to get it for Christmas_**

**A/N: if I wasn't so tired yesterday after getting home from work, I probably would have updated this at midnight but I was too tired to do it. Sorry this is so short but I was really strapped for time yesterday. I had to go out then come back and go out like two hours later, so I didn't have much time to work with this one. This is my shortest chapter yet. Also someone (I can't remember who, sorry) asked me if Troy was addicted to sleep because he slept alot between the last chapter and the chapter before. Well I have to say there's a reason for it, but you guys won't find out why until later on.**

_Jingle Bells_

**December 9; 16 more days until Christmas**

Everyone in the house was up and dressed by eleven. The show didn't start until that evening but they wanted to hang out a little before heading down there. Gabriella was laying across the couch, watching the news for the weather report. She hated going anywhere without checking the weather first. Ryan walked into the living room and hovered over her.

"How's it looking out there?" he asked.

"I don't know. They haven't gotten to the weather first." she said without looking up at him. He nodded and went over to the Lazy Boy. Destiny came in minutes later and sat on his lap, starting their make-out session. Gabriella watched, with a heavy heart, suddenly wishing her own boyfriend was there with her.

"Can you two take that somewhere else?" Gabriella looked up and found Troy looking at the two love birds.

"Sorry." Ryan said and moved to get up, making Destiny stand up so they could go into another room.

"Thanks for that." Gabriella said after they left.

"It was nothing. Don't they have something better to do than make-out?" she giggled and sat up so he could sit down.

"I guess not." he smiled and looked at the tv.

"So what are you watching?"

"The news."

"Why?"

"Waiting for the weather to come on. You know how I am about leaving without finding out the weather first."

"Oh yeah I remember that."

"So how did you sleep last night? You were like the first one to sleep and the last one to rise."

"I slept pretty good."

"That's good."

"How about you? How did you sleep?"

"Same."

"No spiders this time right?" she smiled and shook her head.

"No, no spiders." he smiled lightly and leaned back.

"So how's your mom?"

"She's doing pretty good. A lot better than before."

"What do you mean?"

"In my sophomore year of college, she was diagnosed with breast cancer." he sat up and looked at her with a sorry face. "Didn't Chad tell you?"

"No he didn't tell me anything. I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay. She was lucky they caught it early and was able to remove it before it got worse."

"That's great. How well did she take finding out?"

"She dealt with it pretty good. She was shocked at first but she got over it."

"And you? How did you take it?"

"Truthfully...I was scared. Scared that I would lose my mom. But I was able to deal with it when she told me that the doctors were able to remove the cancer cells."

"So now she's okay?"

"Yeah. The chemo helped and she was able to get rid of it completely." he nodded his head and silence passed between them. "I was a wreck after you left and never came back." he looked over at her, confusion written in her eyes. "I didn't sleep, I hardly ate anything. I thought I wouldn't be able to make it through my first year of college but after Taylor reassured me that you weren't doing it intentionally, I started to calm down." she looked up at him, her eyes staring into his. "It wasn't intentional...was it?"

"No...it wasn't." he lied. He couldn't tell her the truth because the truth was that it was intentional. He didn't come home because of her. He missed out on three years worth of holidays just to avoid seeing her. Now here he was, the forth year, looking right at her, lying to her face, hoping that she wouldn't see through him.

"Guys we're going to get something to eat. You coming?" Zeke asked as he walked into the living room.

"Yeah." Troy said and stood up before Gabriella could catch the look in his eyes that told her, he was lying. Gabriella turned to the tv, finding the weather on. She took a quick look at it before turning it off, deciding it was going to be an okay day.

Minutes later, the group pulled into a McDonald's, deciding on something fast and cheap. After getting their food, they found a spot where they all could fit without being separated.

"So what are we doing for the rest of the time before we head into the city?" Kelsi asked as she bit into her cheeseburger.

"Whatever you guys want to do?" Sharpay said and looked around the table.

"Can we go bowling?" Destiny asked and Sharpay nodded.

"Sure. If everyone's okay with that." they all agreed to going bowling and finished up their food. After throwing out their trash, they climbed into their respective cars and Troy followed Sharpay to the nearest bowling alley.

They paid for four games and rented two lanes. The girls were in one lane and the boys in the other. They wanted a rematch for their defeat in laser tag.

"You sure you guys want to make this into a competition? Cause you know you're just gonna get your butts beat again." Taylor asked.

"Yeah, yeah. We're so gonna win this." Jason boasted and Taylor shrugged.

"Okay but don't say I didn't warn you."

The game started with them going in this order: Taylor against Zeke, Kelsi against Ryan, Gabriella against Chad, Destiny against Troy, and Sharpay against Jason. By the end of the first game, the girls were up by five points. The guys didn't think much of it since they had three more games to go. They won the second game but the girls made a comeback in the third all due to a three-in-a-row strike, courtesy of Gabriella.

It all came down to the fourth game, in which the boys and the girls were tied. It was all up to Sharpay and Jason to settle the tie. Sharpay knocked down all but two of the pins down on the first try but was able to knock down the other two at the second try. Jason got a strike on the first try, winning the game for the guys.

"Told you we were gonna win." Jason said to Taylor.

"Whatever. It's a tie that means no one won."

"Guys we better go if we're going to get something to eat before the show." Sharpay said, looking at her watch. Everyone got their sneakers back from the shoe rental and ran out to the cars. They headed into the city and found parking close to Madison Square Garden. They walked to Manhattan Mall to find a place to eat, choosing between Chinese, Japanese, Mexican and good ole' fast food. Of course the guys chose fast food while the girls chose Japanese. It didn't take long for them to finish their food and before they knew it, they were heading over to the WaMu Theater in Madison Square Garden.

They presented their tickets to the ushers and found their seats. The show started fifteen minutes later and everyone was too engrossed in it to say anything. The life of the show caught their attention, never failing to let them go for one second.

Gabriella sat there on the edge of her seat, feeling like a little kid again. She had never seen anything like this before. It was something totally new to her and she loved it. The more she moved towards the edge of her seat, the more she caught Troy's attention. He was probably the only one that the show had not caught completely. He had too much on his mind to be completely into it.

The girl beside him caught his eye. Keeping it there until something else would catch his attention. He smiled softly as he saw her eyes light up. He loved her innocence, it was the best part about her. It was what made him fall in love with her in the first place. He turned his attention back to the performance but occasionally glanced in her direction.

By the end of the show, everyone in the theater was so captivated that it took them a few seconds before applauding.

"That was awesome." Destiny said as they walked out of the theater. "It was unlike anything I've ever seen before."

"I would actually pay to go see that again." Chad said and Taylor looked at him.

"Well there's a revelation." he glared at her and she smiled innocently before kissing his cheek.

"As great as that was, I'm tired." Sharpay said "You guys ready to head back?" they all nodded and left the theater to go get their cars. The roads were pretty much empty by the time they got on the highway. Everyone had knocked out except for the drivers. Troy looked into the rear view mirror, seeing all his friends asleep. He looked over at the sleeping Gabriella beside him, his heart feeling light. He smiled softly and turned his eyes back on the road.

Minutes later, he pulled into the garage behind Sharpay and shut off the car. He reached behind him and shook Chad's leg.

"Dude time to get up we're here." he said and Chad opened his eyes.

"What?"

"We're here."

"But I'm tired."

"Help me get everyone out of the car and then you can go upstairs and sleep the night away." Chad nodded and shook Taylor awake.

"Babe wake up." Taylor opened her eyes and glared at him.

"What a great way to wake up your girlfriend." she said as she stretched.

"Look I'm tired. I just want to get everyone up so I can go back to sleep." he turned around in his seat and shook Jason, waking both Jason and Kelsi. "Let's go. We're here." he went to move to wake Gabriella but Troy gave him a look that told him not to touch her. "I'm going upstairs." Chad jumped out of the car and went up to his shared room. Troy leaned over to Gabriella's side of the car and gently shook her.

"Huh?" she said groggily as she opened her eyes and looked around.

"We're here." he whispered and got out of the car. He went over to her side and opened her door. "Come on Gabs. Let's go." she groaned and leaned up against him as he pulled her out of the car. She leaned against him the whole way up to her room. "You wanna change into your night clothes or no?" she shook her head and he picked up, bridal style, pushing away the covers. He laid her down and brought the covers up to her shoulders. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Night." she whispered and he walked out of his room. After changing into his night clothes, Troy got into bed and was out the minute his head hit the pillow.


	10. Winter Wonderland

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer:...I wish...no really I do_**

**A/N: okay so in this chapter there's a song. I'm not going to tell you what the name of the song is or who it's by. The first person to tell me the name and the artist will get a Troyella video from me to call their own. I won't take credit for any part of it. So let's see who can give me what I want. It'll only last for one day unless I don't get the right answers; if that happens, then I'll extended it another day or so.**

_Winter Wonderland_

**December 10; 15 more days until Christmas**

It was noontime and everyone was ready to go. Everyone except Troy. He was still sleeping and it worried all of his friends. They had no clue why he was still sleeping but they sat in the living room at patiently waited for him to get up. Chad sat on the couch, glancing at the staircase every five seconds. His leg bounced up and down, making his nervousness clear.

"Chad are you alright?" Taylor asked, her eyes showing concerned.

"Yeah..I'm fine." he stood up and walked over to the staircase.

"Where are you going?"

"To check on Troy."

"What for?" Kelsi asked and he stopped walking.

"Is there something wrong with him?" Gabriella asked and everyone had their eyes on him. He stayed quiet and kept his back towards them.

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Taylor asked, standing up and walking over to him. "If there's something wrong with Troy, we have a right to know."

"There's nothing wrong with him." Chad snapped and Taylor jumped back in surprise. He sighed and looked at her. "I'm sorry Tay. I didn't mean to yell at you. Look I'm gonna go check on him. I'll be right back." he ran upstairs with everyone following him with their eyes. Taylor turned around and saw the worry in Gabriella's eyes. She sat down beside her best friend and hugged her.

Chad walked into Troy and Jason's room and spotted Troy still asleep on his bed. He shook his best friend awake and waited for him to open his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked

"Have you been taking your meds?" he asked

"Of course I have." Troy sat up slowly and hung his legs over the side of the bed. "Why do you ask?"

"You've been sleeping a lot lately. It's already twelve fifteen and you're still in bed. Everyone's downstairs, ready to leave but they all are waiting on you...they're worried about you."

"There's nothing for them to worry about." he stood up and walked over to the dresser, pulling out a clean pair of boxers before walking over to the closet and finding something to wear. "Y-You didn't tell them did you?"

"Of course not. It's your business to tell them, not me." Troy nodded and pulled out a shirt and jeans.

"I'm going to take a shower. I'll be down in a few." he left the room and went into the bathroom. Chad walked back downstairs where he met nothing but worried looks.

"He's in the shower." everyone was able to breath easy after that revelation...well except for Gabriella. She still had worry flowing through her but she didn't voice it. She didn't want everyone to start worrying again. Minutes later, Troy came down the stairs and smiled at everyone.

"Hey guys."

"Here we were sitting here, worrying about you and all you can say is hey?" Sharpay screeched and walked over to him.

"I'm sorry?"

"You better be. Let's go everyone." she stalked off towards the garage and everyone followed close behind. Gabriella walked up to Troy and he smiled at her. She gave him a short, sad smile before it faltered and she walked away. He followed everyone else to the garage only to find Chad sitting in the driver's seat of the Lexus.

"No way you're driving today." Chad said lowly so the others would hear.

"Chad...I told you, I'm fine."

"I don't trust your word on that." Troy sighed and climbed into the back seat next to Gabriella. He tried to catch her eye but she refused to look at him. A look of confusion passed across his face, not understanding what was wrong with her. He tried many times throughout the first half an hour on the highway to catch her gaze but gave up after having no success.

They arrived in the city a hour and a half later and parked their cars uptown where there was more parking spaces. They took the subway down to 96th street and transferred to another train that let them off at 72nd street and walked over to Central Park. As they walked through the park, the girls locked arms with their boyfriends, taking in the sight of lights on the trees. This, however, left Gabriella and Troy lagging behind, not wanting to be reminded of what they didn't have (Gabriella had but he just wasn't there at the moment).

"Gabi." Troy said lowly but she didn't respond to him. "Gabriella what did I do to make you not wanna talk to me?" she still didn't answer and he sighed, giving up his attempts to try.

"I was so worried about you." she said out of the blue and he looked at her. "No one knew why you were still sleeping. It worried us all but me most of all and then Chad started acting weird and it just added to the stress of worrying over you. I didn't know what to do."

"I didn't mean to make you worry, I've just been extremely tired lately." she came to a sudden halt, making him stop and she looked up at him.

"Tell me the truth Troy...is there something wrong with you?"

"No. Of course not." he lied.

"You're lying."

"I'm not lying. There's nothing wrong with me."

"I don't believe me."

"Fine then don't believe me but I'm telling you the truth." he moved to catch up with everyone else but found them nowhere to be found. "Shit."

"What?"

"I don't know where they went."

"Are you serious? You mean we're lost in a park that we've never been to before?"

"Come on. They can't be that far ahead." they ran until they came to a fork in the path. "Damn it."

"Now what?"

"I don't know. I guess we just wait here until they figure out we're gone."

"We can't just wait here, we'll freeze."

"Well what else should we do?"

"Keep walking and hope that they'll come down the path, looking for us and find us." he sighed in frustration but agreed. The two head up the left side of the fork and soon came upon a small playground. There was not a soul in sight, no children or their parents. "I'm surprised no one's here."

"It's probably a little too cold for anyone to be...including us."

"Oh come on Troy. Live a little will ya." she ran over to the swing set and sat down "Come and push me." she called and he rolled his eyes, a goofy smile settling on his lips, before walking over to her.

He pressed his hand on her back and pushed her forward. She giggled as she felt the wind blow through her hair. Her laughter was music to Troy's ears. It made his heart flip and the butterflies in his stomach to go crazy. A gasp from her made him snap out of his trance and he realized he stop pushing her. But that wasn't the reason she gasped. He found that when he looked at her, she was staring at the sky, a soft smile on her face. He looked up and his own smile made it's way to his face. It had began to snow.

Gabriella stood up from the swing and closed her eyes, letting the snowflakes hit her face. Soon she began to dance around, bits of laughter escaping her lips. Troy watched in awe as she displayed her child-like tendency. He couldn't help but fall deeper in love with her. She stopped when she felt his eyes on him, turning to face him. A smile was still present on his face and it caused her to smile. She walked over to him and took his hand in hers.

"Dance with me." she said and dragged him out to the middle of the playground where the snow fell the most. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her head against his chest. He looked at her with loving eyes before leaning his head against hers.

"Wait." he pulled out his sidekick and turned it to the first song he could find. "There now we have music." he said and put it back in his case.

_I don't want this moment_

_To ever end_

_Where everything's nothing, without you_

_I wait here forever_

_To see you smile, cause it's true_

_I am nothing, without you_

_Through it all_

_I've made my mistakes_

_I'll stumble and fall_

_But I mean these words_

_I want you to know_

_With everything I won't let this go_

_These words are my heart and soul_

_I hold on to these moments, you know_

_Cause I bleed my heart out to show_

_And I won't let go_

_Thoughts read unspoken_

_Forever and vow_

_Pieces of memories_

_Fall to the ground_

_I know what I did and how so_

_I won't let this go, cause it's true_

_I am nothing, without you_

_On the streets, where I walked alone_

_With nowhere to go_

_I've come to an end_

_I want you to know_

_With everything I won't let this go_

_These words are my heart and soul_

_I hold on to these moments, you know_

_Cause I bleed my heart out to show_

_And I won't let go_

_In front of your eyes_

_It falls from the skies_

_When you don't know what you're looking to find_

_In front of your eyes_

_It falls from the skies_

_When you just never know what you will find_

_What you will find_

_What you will find_

_What you will find_

_What you will find_

_I don't want this moment_

_To ever end_

_Where everything's nothing, without you_

_I want you to know_

_With everything I won't let this go_

_These words are my heart and soul_

_I hold on to these moments, you know_

_Cause I bleed my heart out to show_

_And I won't let go_

_I want you to know_

_With everything I won't let this go_

_These words are my heart and soul_

_I hold on to these moments, you know_

_Cause I bleed my heart out to show_

_And I won't let go_

As the song ended, the two pulled away, slightly, to look the other in the eyes. Gabriella smiled softly at him but instead of returning it, he leaned in closer to her, closing the space between their lips. They touched, lightly, for a few seconds before Gabriella pulled back. Troy looked at her with confused eyes and she showed sorrow in hers.

"I-I can't." she whispered before breaking out of their embrace and stepping away from him.

"Gabriella..." before he could say anymore, a familiar voice called to them and they looked to the entrance of the playground.

"There you two are." Destiny said walking up to them. "Everyone's looking for you..." she stopped talking when she saw the look on their faces. "Am I...interrupting something?"

"No...you aren't." Troy walked out of the playground without looking at Gabriella. Destiny looked at Gabriella with questioning eyes but the only thing Gabriella's eyes could show was despair. Destiny walked out of the playground with Gabriella following to the area where their friends stood. Troy stood off to the side with his head down, eyes focused on the floor. Gabriella kept her eyes on him and only him, leaving the rest of her friends to wonder what happened. They all looked to Destiny for answers but all she could do was shrug.

"So..." Sharpay started "since we missed the festival all because Gabriella and Troy decided to take a detour...who's hungry?" almost all raised their hands. They left the park in silence and walked over to BBQ's.

After eating (again, in silence), they went back uptown to their cars and headed home. Chad still drove, leaving Troy in the back seat next to Gabriella. He kept his attention out the window and his thoughts empty. He didn't want to think about anything, not the dancing, not the kiss...not even her. He didn't want to be reminded of the way she pulled away from him and spoke the two words that made him feel worse than he already did.

Once they got home, Troy headed straight up to his room and closed the door. He wasn't seen for the rest of that night.

**A/N: make sure you guys go pick up HSM 2 tomorrow**


	11. The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: I want it for Christmas though I doubt I'm getting it._**

**A/N: congrats to Lil-Evans for being the first one to get my challenge right. congrats to everyone who guess it all of you guessed right. The song was _With You_ by Sum 41. I made a Troyella video to that song like two days ago and I decided to just use it in my story. Cute Troyella moment at the end.**

_The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year_

**December 11; 14 more days until Christmas**

The next morning the house was silent. No one spoke, no one laughed, no one made a sound. Worry washed over the house again as they found Troy to still be asleep. Everyone looked to Chad for answers but he refused to say anything.

"Chad you've got to tell us what's wrong with him." Kelsi said as she and the others walked into the living room.

"I'm not saying anything."

"So then you admit that there is something wrong with him?" Sharpay asked.

"I'm not admitting anything."

"Please Chad..." everyone went silent and all their eyes turned to Gabriella "just tell us."

"I can't."

"Why not?" Sharpay screeched.

"Because it's not my place to tell. If he wants to tell you guys then he can go right ahead but if not then I need to respect his wishes and keep it to myself."

"But we're his friends too and we need to know." Taylor said and everyone else nodded.

"I'm sorry guys but I'm not saying a word about it." everyone groaned and Gabriella looked up towards the staircase.

She snuck out of the living room and went up to Troy's room. She quietly walked into Troy's room, gently closing the door behind her, and walked over to his bed. She smiled sadly as she spotted him lying face up, his face looking more peaceful than she had seen it yesterday. She sat on his bed and touched his cheek. His eyes flickered open at her touch and he stared up at her with his blue eyes showing nothing. The look he gave her sent fear through her spine and she quickly pulled her hand away, almost as if she was burned.

"Troy..." she whispered and he got out of bed. He walked over to the closet with her eyes following his every move. "Talk to me...please." he moved away from the closet to walk over to the dresser, not saying a single word to her. "You can't do this."

"I can do whatever the hell I want." he said and walked out of the room and into the bathroom, leaving Gabriella by herself. She put her face in her hands and began to sob. She didn't want to loose him...not again. She screwed things up once already and now she was doing it again.

Troy came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, fully clothed. He was surprised to see Gabriella still sitting on his bed, her face stained with tears. Upon hearing the door close, she lifted her head and her eyes sent a wave a guilt down his back. He knew he shouldn't be mad at her, after all she did have a boyfriend, but she hurt him...badly and it didn't help him with his illness, it just made it worse. She slowly lowered her head and he walked over to her.

He grabbed her hand and she looked up. He pulled her off of the bed and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry." he whispered and she returned the hug.

"It's not your fault."

"Yes it is." he said pulling away from her. "I shouldn't have shut you out like that."

"Why did you shut me out Troy?"

"Hey Troy..." Jason stopped in his tracks when he saw the two of them. "Oh...sorry. I didn't realize you were up here." he said to Gabriella.

"What's up?" Troy asked.

"Shar wants us to start heading into the city."

"We'll be right down."

"Okay but hurry, she is extremely impatient." Troy nodded and Jason left the room. Gabriella looked up at him, expectantly, waiting to get her answer. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a loud Sharpay.

"Will you two hurry up." Troy rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Can we talk about this later?"

"As long as you promise you'll tell me?"

"I promise Gabs." she nodded and they left the room. The second they got downstairs Sharpay scoffed a 'finally' and walked over to the garage door. Jason took a turn to drive, giving Troy and Chad a break.

Driving into the city was as quiet as it was the day before. No one knew why they weren't talking, all they knew was that they weren't talking. They were fifteen minutes away from the city when Chad found he couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Will someone please say something." he yelled

"Something." Troy responded with a smug grin on his face and Chad glared playfully at his best friend.

"I didn't mean it that way."

"I know." Chad rolled his eyes and looked to everyone else.

"Anyway...can we get a conversation started or something."

"What would you like to talk about?" Taylor asked and he shrugged.

"I don't know...anything."

"Let's talk about food." Jason said

"No." they all yelled and he sank a little in his seat.

"Ugh. Just forget it." Chad said and leaned his head against the window.

A few minutes later, they were driving through mid-town looking for a close place to park that was near Radio City Music Hall. After finding parking, they walked over to Radio City on 50th street. A long line await them but they stood patiently, waiting to be allowed in.

"So how good are these seats?" Zeke asked Sharpay.

"Front row, of course. Only the best for my friends."

It wasn't long before the line moved and everyone started going inside. All but two of the group of friends looked around at the interior of the building.

"Seventy-five years has got nothing on this place." Chad said and Kelsi nodded in agreement.

"Come on guys. We gotta go find our seats." Sharpay led the group into a doorway that revealed the stage in all it's glory. Sharpay showed their tickets to the usher and she led them to the front row, handing them a program.

They all took their seats and waited for the show to start. About ten minutes later, the lights went dim and everyone started to quiet down as the curtains opened. As Wintuk had, the show captivated them, keeping them until the very end.

The second the show ended, everyone was cheering, calling for an encore. They walked out of the theater, talking non-stop about it. The only one that stayed quiet was Gabriella. Troy noticed her serene stated and lagged behind just to ask her about it.

"Hey." he said and she looked up. "You okay?"

"Yeah just thinking."

"About the show?"

"Mostly, yeah."

"Did you like it?"

"It was amazing." he smiled as he saw a soft smile playing on her lips. "I can't believe that show's been around for this long."

"Same here."

"Hurry up you two. Some of us want to go ice skating." Sharpay yelled and they went to catch up. The walked around the corner to Rockefeller Center, where a giant Christmas tree stood, overlooking the skating rink below.

They made their way downstairs where the rental booth stood. The guys rented hockey skates and the girls rented figure skates. They all walked onto the rink except for Gabriella. She stood off at the entrance, staring at the frozen rink with horror.

"Gabs what's wrong?" Troy asked as he skated over to her and she looked up.

"I-I've never ice skated before." she bit her bottom lip and looked back at the rink.

"Here." he said outstretching his hand. "Take my hand." she slowly grabbed his hand and he helped her onto the ice. She slipped once both feet were on the ice but he caught her in his arms. "You okay?" she nodded and tried to stand up. As he helped her regain her balance, she kept her eyes on her feet to make sure she didn't slip again and looked up at him once she was standing upright.

"Troy...I can't do this. I'm scared."

"Just relax." he said taking both her hands in his. "I won't let you fall, I promise." she nodded and he slowly, began skating backwards. She tried to move her feet as he did but she was too nervous to get control of her feet. She kept her eyes on her feet, wanting to make sure she didn't trip over her feet. "Gabriella" she looked up at him, his blue eyes making her feel safe "don't think about it. Thinking about it just makes it worse." she nodded and took a deep breath, letting her feet guide her. Soon she found herself skating perfectly well and she smiled brightly.

"I'm skating. I can't believe I'm actually skating."

"Then you wouldn't mind me doing this." he let go of her hands and let her glide on her own, moving so he wasn't in her way. She panicked for a little but relax when she got the hang of doing it on her own. But she got a little too confident and made a wrong step. She squealed and closed her eyes, waiting for the impact. She felt herself falling but didn't feel herself hit the ground. "I told you I wouldn't let you fall." she opened her eyes and looked behind her. Troy had caught her at the last minute. She hadn't even realized he followed her but was glad he did. He helped her stand up straight but made no move to remove his arms from around her waist. To him, it felt right having her there.

"Um...Troy." Gabriella motioned to his arms still around her and he cleared his throat before removing his arms. "Thanks for saving me."

"No problem." she smiled and gave him a gentle hug. He, in turn, wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair.

An hour passed by and the group left the skating rink. They headed over to the Olive Garden in Times Square to eat dinner. It was the first time since the day before that they didn't eat in silence. They talked about everything they could think of. After dinner, they went to find their cars and headed back to Long Island.

Once they got back to the beach house, they played a few games before finally turning in.

**A/N: I know it's short but it's a weekday and I don't have much time to type it. For all who do not live in New York or have not been to NYC, Rockefeller center is a real place that actually does have an ice skating rink that's overlooked by a giant tree for Christmas. I think the tree this year is like 80 feet tall and decorated with over a thousand energy-saving lights.**


	12. This Christmas

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: still hoping and wishing_**

**A/N: this is my shortest chapter yet. It's not a happy chapter either. From now until the 14th, the chapters will be mostly short. Since they're not going anywhere until the 14th, there's not going to be much action but a whole lot of drama. I know I'm late on updating this but stupid website wouldn't let me update. I felt like killing my computer.**

_This Christmas_

**December 12; 13 more days until Christmas**

Gabriella laid awake on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her mind was still on the conversation everyone had spoke about yesterday dealing with Troy and his recent obsession with sleep. Chad knew something was going on with him yet he refused to tell. She knew he was just being a good friend but if something is seriously wrong with Troy then they needed to know. She became fed up with just laying there so she got up and left the room. She quietly made her way into Jason and Troy's room and was on the verge of sneaking around when a voice stopped her.

"What are you doing?" she looked over at Troy's bed and saw his blue eyes staring back at her through the dark.

"I just came to see if you were awake." she lied and walked over to him.

"Should I really believe that? What did you really come in here for?"

"That's the real reason whether you believe me or not." he smirked and she took a seat on the edge of his bed.

"I was just kidding Gabs." he said and pushed her hair behind her ears. She looked at him and smirked.

"Not funny."

"I thought it was." she paled slightly and looked at Jason's bed. "Don't worry. Once he's out, he's out." she breathed a sigh in relief and turned back to Troy. "So why did you come to see if I was awake?"

"To talk."

"About...?"

"Are you sick or something?" his smirk fell and his eyes darkened.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that...we were all trying to get Chad to tell us if something serious was wrong with you and he said there was but he didn't say what." she looked at her hands, not wanting to see the look on Troy's face.

"It's nothing you need to worry about." she looked up, a flash of anger crossing her features.

"It's everything I need to worry about."

"Gabriella it's not as serious as you think."

"Then why won't you tell me what it is?"

"Because it's none of your business." she glared at him before getting up and walking over to the door. "Gabriella." he said and got up, following her. Just as she pulled the door open, he put his hand against it and closed it before she could leave. "I'm sorry." he whispered and she turned to him, blushing when she realized how close he was to her.

"Why can't you just tell me what's wrong with you?"

"Because you don't need to worry about me. This is your vacation as much as mine and everyone else's. Worrying over me is the last thing I want you to do. I can take care of myself."

"I just...I don't want to lose you."

"You won't Gabriella. It's not that serious, I can assure you that." she smiled softly and he did the same. Without warning, she stood on the tip of her toes and planted a soft kiss on his lips. "What was that for?"

"I...don't know." she bit her lower lip and looked somewhere else, instead of at his face. He placed a finger on her chin and made her look at him. He looked into her eyes before leaning down and capturing her lips with his.

Her hands trailed up his chest until the wrapped around his neck. He bent down without detaching their lips and lifted her up. She instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist and let him carry her over to his bed. He gently laid her down and took his place above her.

"I love you Gabriella." he whispered and she smiled.

"I love you too, Troy." he smiled before recapturing her lips.

Gabriella awoke three hours later and when she noticed she wasn't in her room or in her bed, she shot up. The first thing she noticed was Troy's arm wrapped around her waist. The second thing she noticed was her clothes sprawled across the floor. She put two and two together and got the result that they had had sex. Though one side of her was happy, the other side was no so much.

She cheated on Will, even though it was with the one person that she really loved, she still cheated on her boyfriend, the one who had been there for her in the past three years. She gently removed Troy's arm from around her waist and got up. She sighed a breath of relief when she realized Jason was still asleep and quickly got dressed. She knew leaving Troy to wake up alone was wrong but what they had done was wrong so she had no choice. She left the room and quietly made her way back over to her room.

Troy awoke about five minutes after Gabriella left and the first thing he reached for was the girl beside him but when he felt nothing but the sheets, he opened his eyes. He moved to a sitting position and looked around, hoping that she just went to the bathroom but when he saw no signs that she had been there, he gave up hope. He sighed and sank back into the covers.

After lying there for another three minutes, he got up and went over to his suitcase. He pulled out a small prescription bottle and went into the bathroom. He turned on the water and took out two pills from the bottle. He didn't take them, he just looked at them as if they weren't even there before throwing them into the sink, letting the water wash them down the drain. He emptied out the whole bottle into the sink and watched as pill after pill disappeared into the drain. He threw the bottle on the floor once he saw all the pills were gone and went back into the room.

He put back on his night clothes and got back into bed. He could feel himself winding down, something the pills would have prevented. His eyes were slowly starting to close and he fell into a deep sleep minutes later.

Everyone but Troy was up at around eleven, including Gabriella. She sat in the living room with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. She was still stuck on what she had managed to give to Troy without intentionally doing it...at least she thought it wasn't intentional. Even though that was on her mind for most of the morning, right now she was more worried over why Troy hadn't got up yet. She, however, wasn't going to do what she did yesterday, knowing that the look he gave her yesterday was going to be nothing compared to the one he would give her today.

They all tried to go on with the day like nothing was wrong but they couldn't help but worry about Troy. It was already two in the afternoon and he still hadn't gotten up. It wasn't until four that he had actually came downstairs, fully dressed, looking like he was going out. Taylor went over to talk to him but the second she saw the look on his face, she knew he didn't want to talk about anything. He went out the front door but didn't go anywhere else. He took a seat on the front stairs and just stared out into the open.

The door opened seconds later and Sharpay stepped out into the cold air. She sat down beside him and stayed quiet for a few minutes.

"So...what's wrong?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." he said coldly without looking at her.

"I'm your friend Troy, _we're_ all your friends, you can't shut us out like this."

"I can and I will."

"But...think about how Gabriella feels." he stood up angrily and looked at her.

"To hell what she feels. I don't give a flying fuck what she feels. I pour out my heart to her and she just...ugh." he walked away from her and she stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"For a walk."

Sharpay watched him leave, knowing there was more to his anger than she thought. She knew he would come back once he calmed down. She sighed and went inside, hoping that he would actually calm down and come back.

Gabriella was the only one that stayed up to wait for Troy to return. It wasn't until half past eleven that Troy came back. The sound of the door closing made Gabriella get off of the couch and run to where he was.

"Troy..." she stopped when she saw the look in his eyes. She was the last person he wanted to talk to. She stepped back from him and looked away. He walked past her without saying a word to her and went upstairs to his room. The second she heard the door slam, she shot her head in the direction of his room and tried to fight back tears. She quickly ran up to her room and closed the door before breaking down.

"Gabriella what's wrong?" Taylor asked when she saw her best friend crying. Gabriella shook her head and leaned against the closed door, sliding down the surface. Taylor got out of bed and walked over to Gabriella, leaning down beside her. "Come on tell me."

"He hates me." she choked out and ran to her bed, lying face first so the pillow could muffle her cries. Taylor walked over to her and sat down beside her, rubbing circles on her back to calm her down. When Gabriella did finally calm down, she slipped into a restless sleep.

**A/N: well their budding relationship has just crashed and burned.**


	13. Carol Of The Bells

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: things on my Christmas list hmm...Zac Efron, Link Larkin, Troy Bolton...oh yea and the rights to HSM._**

**A/N: okay again, short chapter but much drama. In this chapter you'll see how much of an effect Troy and Gabriella's situation is having on their friends. I _hate_ this website for the plain fact that it goes down too much.**

_Carol Of The Bells_

**December 13; 12 more days until Christmas**

Taylor was furious the next morning. She burst into Troy and Jason's room, slamming the door enough to wake them both.

"What the hell did you do to her?" she yelled. Troy didn't respond, he just laid on his bed and didn't look at Taylor. "Answer me Troy. I know you're awake."

"Tay what are you yelling for?" Jason asked.

"Because Troy did something to Gabriella and I wanna know what." Troy shot up into a sitting position and glared at her.

"I didn't do anything to her so fuck off." he yelled and she stalked over to him.

"And why should I believe you?"

"Believe what you want, I didn't do not a goddamn thing to her." they glared at each other until Chad came and dragged her to another room.

"Tay what is wrong with you?" Chad asked.

"He's what's wrong with me. My best friend came into our room last night, crying her eyes out and it's all because of him."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"Why else would she be crying? She always cries whenever something has to do with him."

"Tay..."

"Just admit it Chad. She loves him more than anything in this world and for what? So he can continue to break her heart in two? I don't think so. She's my best friend and I can't take seeing her like this. He needs to apologize for whatever he did to her."

"He's not the one who needs to apologize." Taylor and Chad turned their heads to the doorway as Sharpay stood there, an emotionless look on her face. "She's the one that needs to apologize to him."

"Do you know something we don't?" Chad asked.

"I know as much as you do about this situation but I do know that it's her fault that he's acting the way he is."

"And what makes you think that?" Taylor asked.

"Obvious signs that you don't seem to see. You're all for protecting your best friend that you're blaming the wrong person. You shouldn't be asking Troy what he did to Gabriella. You should be asking Gabriella what she did to Troy. Maybe then you'll get the truth." Sharpay left the doorway and went back downstairs. Taylor looked at Chad but he refused to look at her.

"Chad?" he left the room and she sighed. She had accused his best friend of doing something wrong and now that they had just been told that it wasn't Troy's fault, he wasn't willing to talk to her. He went downstairs and sat on the couch next to Ryan and Destiny. Both looked at him with sad faces. They knew what had gone on upstairs (thanks to Sharpay) and they both felt sorry that he had been put up against his girlfriend.

The situation between Gabriella and Troy was making this vacation worse by the second, putting friend against friend, boyfriend against girlfriend. The others had to figure out a way to solve this problem or their whole vacation was going to go to hell.

Both Gabriella and Troy stayed up in their rooms, refusing to join their friends. They didn't want to take the chance that they might see the other. But while they shut themselves up in their rooms, everyone else was on edge.

Chad and Sharpay refused to talk to Taylor, leaving Jason, Zeke, Ryan, Kelsi and Destiny in the middle. But all of that was about to change, when another rift would be put between the friends.

"Zeke can you please tell Sharpay that I'm sorry?" Taylor asked as she sat beside him.

"I wish I could but right now she's like a wall."

"When hasn't she been a wall." Kelsi mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"No say it. Say what you just said." Zeke stood up and glared down at Kelsi.

"She didn't say anything." Jason said and stood up.

"She did say something. She said Sharpay has always been a wall."

"If you knew what she said then why the hell are you asking her to repeat herself?"

"Because she shouldn't be talking about Sharpay in the first place."

"And why not?"

"Because she doesn't deserve to be talked about in that way."

"But that doesn't give you any right to start yelling at her."

"Guys will you shut up." Kelsi yelled and they looked at her before going back to arguing. She sighed and sunk into her seat.

Gabriella stood on the staircase, out of sight listening to her friends fight. Another thing ruined because of her. She heard the sound of a door opening and looked down the hallway. Troy stopped in his tracks when he saw Gabriella standing a few feet ahead of him, staring at him. She gave him a small smile, a smile he didn't return, and he went into the bathroom. Her smile slipped off her face and she sighed before heading back to her room.

She laid down on her bed, facing the ceiling and just stared until her phone broke her out of her trance. She reached over to the night stand and picked up her cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey babe it's me."

"Oh hey Will. What's up?"

"Nothing much just calling to see how everything's going."

"Not so good."

"Why? What happened?"

"Let's just say everything's starting to go downhill."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone's mad at each other basically. No one wants to talk to each other. Tay's boyfriend is ignoring her right now because she accused his best friend for upsetting me."

"Someone upset you? Who?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does. If someone makes my baby cry then they have to deal with me."

"I appreciate the protectiveness but really it's okay."

"If you say so. But remember I'm here for you."

"I know you are." the sound of yelling followed by something breaking reached her ears and she jumped up to a sitting position. "Babe I'll call you back."

"Okay. Later."

"Bye." she hung up the phone and went out to the hallway. She spotted Troy already there, looking down at the scene below. She leaned over the railing and saw a broke vase on the floor, followed by a heated Jason and a bloodied Zeke.

"What is wrong with you?" Sharpay yelled and Jason just stormed into the next room. Kelsi looked at Zeke in shock then at where her boyfriend had disappeared to before running after him. "I'm starting to think this was all just a bad idea." Sharpay said as she tended to Zeke's wounds.

"You know this is our fault." Gabriella whispered and Troy looked up at her. "If it wasn't for our problems..." she lifted her head to look at him "they would be happy right now and not fighting each other." he stared at her in the same emotionless look he had given her last night. "I'm sorry." she said, trying to fight back tears. "I'm sorry that I left yesterday morning but you see...what we did was wrong. I have a boyfriend."

"It sure didn't seem that way." he said lowly.

"I know and I regret it."

"Y-You regret what we did?" he asked heartbrokenly.

"No. I regret cheating on Will. I loved every minute of what we did." she smiled sadly at him and he moved toward her. He reached out for her and pulled her into a soul-searing kiss. "Troy" she whispered and looked into his eyes. "Please...I can't." he nodded and let her go. He adverted his eyes to the floor and walked away from her. He went back into his room and closed the door.

Gabriella subconsciously reached for her heart, feeling it breaking all over again. But she knew her heart was breaking as much as his was. She wanted to comfort him, tell him that she didn't mean it but she knew that what they wanted could never be possible as long as Will was in her life.

She turned back to look at what was going on below before going back into her room. This isn't how she wanted things between them to be, but it's what it had to be. She knew it the second she heard him whisper those three words she longed to hear from him. That's probably why she let what happened yesterday to happen. Her love for him blurred her reason and she could only do what was necessary: love him.

**A/N: next chapter I promise that you'll find out what's wrong with Troy but it's like he said, he's not going to die from it.**


	14. Christmas, Don't Be Late

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: it's still on my Christmas list_**

**A/N: please don't kill me after this chapter but it is necessary. Lots of relationships are like this...well not like this persay, but something like it. I noticed that a lot of you are hostile towards Troy but technically it's not his fault. I'm sorry if Gabriella comes off as a bitch in this chapter.**

_Christmas, Don't Be Late_

**December 14; 11 more days until Christmas**

The sound of a faint ringing woke Gabriella out of her sleep. She tiredly opened her eyes and reached over to her night stand to pick up her phone.

"Hello?" she said groggily.

"Morning sleepyhead." she smiled and leaned back against her pillow.

"Morning. Why are you calling me so early?"

"Well because I have a surprise for you."

"What is it?"

"Go downstairs."

"Why?"

"Just go downstairs." she sighed and got out of bed. She left her room and went down to the living room.

"Okay. I'm downstairs now what?" the doorbell rung and confusion flashed across her face. She went to the door to answer and dropped her phone when she saw who stood on the other side. "Will" she squealed and launched herself into his arms.

"Good to see you too." he said with a chuckle. The doorbell, however, didn't go unheard by the rest of the house. Everyone went downstairs to see who was at the door and was shocked to see Gabriella hugging someone they didn't know.

"Um Gabriella...shouldn't you introduce us?" Kelsi asked.

"Oh right." she said finally realizing her friends were behind her. "Will these are my friends. This is Kelsi, Jason, Ryan, Destiny, Chad, Zeke, Sharpay and you know Taylor."

"Hey Taylor. Long time no see."

"Hey Will." she responded with a half smile.

Chad and Sharpay looked upstairs to see Troy standing at the railing, looking down at them. They knew what was going through his mind. They knew that he was feeling sad and angry at the same time. Chad knew, for Troy, that wasn't a good thing. Troy went back into his room and Chad chased after his best friend. Everyone watched as Chad disappeared upstairs and Will looked at Gabriella with confusion.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Nothing." as soon as she uttered the word, loud yelling was heard upstairs and Gabriella frowned, her good mood disappearing.

"Is there someone else in the house?"

"Yeah one. You remember how I told you about one of my friends that for some reason never came home for the holidays?"

"Yeah."

"Well he's here and he's kind of been in an up, down mood." Will nodded in understanding and Gabriella's mind floated up to Troy's room, wondering what he and Chad were talking about.

"Dude just go down there and pretend like nothing's wrong." Chad said as Troy paced the room.

"I can't do that Chad."

"And why not?"

"Because I just can't."

"I'm not taking that as an answer so you better just spill."

"Fine you want the truth? _I slept with her_. There. Now you have the truth. You happy?"

"Are you serious?" Chad asked, surprise taking over him.

"As serious as cancer."

"But...when?"

"Early Tuesday morning."

"Then why have you been acting so cold to her?" Troy sighed and sat on his bed, his eyes fixed on the floor.

"Because she...she left as if nothing had happened."

"What do you mean?" Chad asked, taking a seat beside him.

"She just upped and left before I woke." he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I told her I loved her." he whispered. "I told her I loved her and she told me she loved me too."

"Then why are you going all crazy. You both know how you feel about each other."

"You don't get it Chad." he stood up and began pacing again. "You know how there's those guys out there who tell a girl that they love them before having sex with them?"

"Yeah. They leave them like right after."

"Yeah well I feel like one of those girls."

"I'm not understanding."

"She told me that she loved me and then she just gets up and leave and pretends like none of it happened."

"Well she does have a boyfriend."

"I know that but...we still could have worked something out. She didn't have to leave me to wake up alone. Do you know how that feels? To know that the most wonderful thing just happened to you and then you wake up hours later, feeling like it was all just a dream because the person you shared that happy moment with left without saying anything to you. It's the worst feeling in the world."

"That is harsh what she did. She could have at least left you a note or woken you up or something."

"But she didn't. She just left like it was nothing more than a one-night stand."

"Is that why you said those things to Sharpay?"

"She told you huh?"

"Yeah. You didn't really mean it did you? You know about not caring about Gabriella's feelings?"

"Of course I didn't but what else could I have said. Gabriella apparently doesn't care enough about me to consider my feelings."

"You...you didn't force her to sleep with you, did you?"

"No. I would never do that. I would have stopped if she told me to but she never did."

"Maybe you should talk to her."

"It doesn't matter anymore. She has _Will_ now. All I am is a memory left to fade to the background."

"Boys." Sharpay said opening the doors slightly. "We're about to head into the city. You guys coming?"

"Go on without me." Troy said and went to lie face up on his bed.

"Oh come on Troy. It's no fun without you."

"Thanks for the confidence boost Shar but I don't wanna feel like the eleventh wheel." Sharpay sighed and looked over at Chad.

"Don't worry I'm coming." she smiled and went back downstairs. "You sure you'll be okay here by yourself?"

"Yes, I'm positive."

"Okay but remember stay away from sharp edges and don't set the place on fire, I don't wanna have to hear Sharpay's cries when she comes home to a burned down beach house."

"Okay _dad_." Chad rolled his eyes but smiled at his best friend.

"I'll see you when we get back."

"Later." Chad left the room and Troy sighed, staring up at the ceiling. The sound of the door opening, reached his ears but he didn't break out of his staring contest with the ceiling. "I told you I'll be fine Chad."

"Sorry to get your hopes up." Troy instantly propped himself up at Gabriella's voice.

"What do you want?" he asked with venom seeping through every word.

"To see why you don't wanna come with" she walked towards him but stopped when she saw the look in his eyes.

"I'd stay here than be the only one without a date."

"Please come with."

"No. Now go away." he laid back on his pillow and she sighed, turning to leave when something caught her eye. She walked over to the dresser and bent down, picking up a small prescription bottle. She gasped and turned to him.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" she walked over to his bed and threw the bottle at him.

"About this." he sat up and looked at the bottle, all color fading from his face. "Depression? You're suffering from depression?"

"So what?"

"When did this happen?"

"Sophomore year of college. Look it really isn't none of your business."

"It is my business Troy. You could've told me about this. You could have warned me before I..."

"Before you what? Fucked me then left?" he was now sitting up fully, staring at her with hateful eyes.

"Believe me I wouldn't have left."

"Then what would you have done? Tell me Gabriella cause I would really like to know."

"I wouldn't have slept with you in the first place." she yelled and he stared at her, hurt, broken and lost. "T-Troy I-I'm sorry."

"Just get out." he said lowly.

"Troy..."

"I said get the fuck out." he yelled and she ran out the room. He laid down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Gabriella leaned against the railing, holding back her tears, her friends and boyfriend looking at her with concern.

"You guys go on without me. I don't feel like going anymore." she went into her room and slammed the door. Taylor immediately ran upstairs and into the room she shared with Gabriella. Everyone looked at each other, no one felt like going anymore. Something had happened between their two friends and they knew it was no time to go anywhere.


	15. Christmas Time Again

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer:..._**

**A/N: sorry for uploading this late in the day but I was too pissed off last night to type it and update. For all of you that watch my videos, it's going to be a while before I get another video up. I was using Magic DVD Ripper to rip my HSM 2 dvd onto my computer and it was my last use for the free trial. Well my mother thought I 'accidentally' left the computer on (which I don't know how the hell you can accidentally leave it on) and turned off the computer before the dvd could finish. So since it wasn't finished, my WMM wouldn't import it and I had to delete it off my computer. So now, I have no way of downloading my dvd onto my computer unless I buy the program. All the other free trial programs I found have limits. And I already deleted the movie I had on my computer I don't feel like waiting for it to upload again and hope that it'll work. So it's going to be a while before I can put up anymore videos. This is a short chapter but a happy chapter.**

_Christmas Time Again_

**December 15; 10 more days until Christmas**

The morning was still young, and most of the house still slept. Troy, however, couldn't find the strength to go to sleep. He had been up all night and all morning. After about two o'clock, he went downstairs and stepped onto the balcony that over looked the beach. There were dark circles around his eyes which just made his blue orbs even darker than they already were as he stared out into the open. The coldness of the air made his body scream for him to go back inside but his mind was too numb to listen. The sound of the sliding door, opening, reached his ears but he didn't turn around.

"You're gonna get sick out here." he stayed silent, not wishing to speak to anyone, much less her. "Troy please come inside and we'll talk about this." she said and lightly touched his arm before he turned around, his lifeless eyes sending chills down her spine.

"Talk about what? There's nothing to talk about."

"Look I'm sorry about what I said last night I just..."

"There's no excuse for what you said to me. You said it, it's over and done with now."

"You're right, there is no excuse for what I said to you. But that doesn't mean you should treat me like this." he turned back around, his eyes scanning the ocean. "I just want things to go back to the way they were, before college." a short, chilling laugh erupted from his throat and he shook his head.

"You don't get it Gabriella."

"Get what? What is there not to get?"

"The fact that I've been this way since high school. Since the day you stepped into my life, I've felt myself losing control." he turned around and leaned against the railing, focusing his eyes on the floor. "Since the day you stepped into my life, I've been falling deeper and deeper in love with you. But you never seemed interested in me, always someone else. When we were in Toys R' Us, you asked me why I never came home in the past three years. Well the answer is...because of you."

"Me?" he nodded and looked up at her.

"You're the reason I don't come home anymore. I love you and it hurts..." he closed his eyes, trying to fight off the tears that threatened to fall "because I know I can't have you."

"Oh Troy." she walked closer to him and placed one hand on his cheek. He opened his eyes and looked into her brown ones, glazed over by tears. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen." he looked away from her, not wanting to see the sorrow in her eyes. She carefully placed a kiss at the side of his mouth, making him look at her. She smiled sadly at him, trying to fight back her own tears. "I really did mean what I said the other morning. You know before we..." she trailed off and adverted her eyes. He lifted her chin to make her look at him and smiled.

"I know what you mean." he said before leaning in and covering her lips with his. Gabriella knew that she was cheating on Will again but at that moment, she didn't care anymore. She loved Troy, she was _in_ love with Troy, she had been for the past six years.

She smiled against his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck. He placed his arms around her waist and pulled her in closer. They were both wrapped up in what they were doing that they didn't notice the two pairs of eyes, staring at them from the inside. While one pair was ecstatic about them making up, the other pair wasn't so much.

The two eventually went back to sleep (not before a goodnight kiss) and dreamt about the other. Hours later, the house was awake and seemed much more happier than yesterday. Kelsi had apologized to Zeke about what she had said about Sharpay which Zeke accepted but said that Kelsi was kind of right about his girlfriend. Jason had apologized to Zeke about punching him in the face and Zeke apologized to Jason about arguing with him. Taylor apologized to Troy and Chad about the things she had said. All already knew that Troy and Gabriella had made up (thanks to Sharpay), even though they knew that it would be awhile before they would be back to complete normal.

All seemed to be happy except for Will. He was more mad than happy. No one knew why but no one actually cared.

As they sat in the game room, playing Super Mario Galaxy, Will glared over at Troy and Gabriella who sat happily, talking about the game. The final straw was when Will saw Gabriella kiss Troy's cheek. He stood up and walked over to her.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked and she nodded before turning to Troy.

"I'll be right back." she stood up and followed Will into the kitchen. "What's up?"

"What the hell was that back there?" he asked

"What was what?"

"You kissing him."

"I kissed him on the cheek. I don't see anything wrong with that."

"Of course you don't." he said sarcastically. "But I mean there's nothing wrong with kissing someone, who's not your boyfriend, on the cheek hours after you've practically fucked him."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Gabriella. You and him, making out earlier this morning."

"W-Were you spying on us?"

"No, of course not. I saw you coming downstairs this morning so I wanted to know where you were going. Come to find out you were going to talk to the guy that basically ripped out your heart last night. And what shocked me even more was the fact that you kissed him, knowing that you have a boyfriend."

"It's not like we did anything more than that."

"And you think I believe that?"

"Why can't you just trust me?"

"How can I? After what I saw this morning, it's a little hard for me to. Look how about you go back to Colorado with me. We can spend Christmas together with my family and forget this whole thing happen."

"And leave my friends behind? I don't think so."

"I can't trust you to stay here any longer. Who knows what will happen between you and Troy."

"I can't leave. They're my friends."

"And I'm your boyfriend. If you want to save this relationship, I suggest you go with me to Colorado."

"Then you can just leave now."

"You're choosing him over me? After all he's put you through, you'd rather be with him?"

"Yes because at least I know he won't make me choose between him and my friends."

"That's because he's one of them."

"Exactly and you're not."

"I don't believe this."

"But you know...there is something that he has been trying to make me choose between."

"And what's that?"

"What I want and what my heart wants. And do you know what I chose?" he shook his head and she smiled. "What my heart wants and my heart wants him."

"Fine Gabriella. Go be with your precious Troy and hope he doesn't break your heart again."

"I know he won't." Will grabbed his bag that stood by the door and turned to her.

"You know something's going to go wrong between him and you and then you'll wish that you never chose him over me."

"If something does come between me and him, we'll work it out, some way, somehow. How ever we deal with it, I'll never regret choosing him." Will shook his head and headed out the door. Gabriella sighed and leaned herself against the wall.

"Did you really mean that?" she looked towards the doorway to the living room and saw Troy standing there, hope burning brightly in his eyes. She smiled and walked up to him. She grabbed his face and brought him in for a kiss.

"Does that answer your question?" he smiled and leaned in for another kiss.

"Now that you two are finally together..." they stopped and turned to where their friends stood "can we go to the movies now?" Sharpay asked with her hand on her hip. They both grinned and Troy nodded.

"Yes Sharpay. We can go to the movies now." Sharpay squealed and ran upstairs to get her purse. Troy chuckled and Gabriella leaned her head against his shoulder. The others stood there, smiling at their two friends who they'd never thought would actually get together.

Fifteen minutes later, the group was ready to go. They drove into the city and found a parking lot downtown, near the AMC theater on 42nd street. Troy and Gabriella sat next to each other and for the first time acted like a real couple. She had her head rested on his shoulder while he had one arm wrapped around her. Things were looking up for them.

After the movie, they all headed over to Red Lobster for dinner, for once, having a real conversation that involved them all. Now, since Troy and Gabriella were together, they didn't feel left out. They went home an hour and a half later and said their goodnights.

"I'll see you in the morning." Troy whispered and she smiled before nodding. He smiled back before kissing her lips softly. "Night."

"Night." he watched her walk into her room before going into his.

**A/N: don't think you've seen the last of Will.**


	16. Santa Baby

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: Two words: I. Wish._**

**A/N: it's the return of the long chapters. I think if I've actually been someplace recently, I can make these chapters long cause I know next chapter won't be long. I've never been to the place mentioned in the next chapter but I've been to the place mentioned here for the past three years (on account that I work there) so that's why it's so long. Sorry for getting it to you so late in the day but I wanted to make it longer for you guys and I was too tired last night to do that.**

_Santa Baby_

**December 16; 9 more days until Christmas**

"So where are we going today and for the next few days?" Zeke asked Sharpay as they all sat down for breakfast the next morning.

"For the morning part, we'll stay here and then we'll leave here around three and head to The Bronx Zoo for their holiday lights." she answered with a smile. "And for tomorrow we'll do the same but then we're going to go to The New York Botanical Gardens for their holiday train show. I heard both are really nice."

"Sounds like fun. But then Tuesday and Wednesday?"

"Tuesday we can do part of our shopping here and then on Wednesday we'll go to the Palisades mall to finish it up. On Thursday I have something that we can do but I'm not saying what. On Friday we'll start decorating the house. Saturday we'll go get a tree and decorate that. Then Sunday we'll just relax here."

"What about Christmas Eve?" Destiny asked.

"That's when we'll have the Christmas party."

"Christmas party?"

"Yeah. All our parents will come over and we'll have a party."

"Wait our parents are here?" Zeke asked

"Yeah. They have been for the past four days."

"And you didn't tell us that why?" Chad asked.

"Didn't seem important. Can we just get off the subject now?"

"So what's this thing you have planned on Thursday?" Gabriella asked.

"I'm not saying. You'll just have to wait until Thursday." Sharpay stood up with her plate and went into the kitchen.

The rest of the morning went by the same, with everyone asking Sharpay about Thursday and her refusing to say. After a while, everyone just gave up, knowing that they wouldn't get an answer out of her. The house, however, was quiet than usual and there was nothing that would make them worry. Of course, Troy had still yet to tell them all about his disorder but no one seemed to remember that there was something wrong with him. He was happier now that he and Gabriella were together.

Taylor and Chad took this time of peace to carefully put their relationship back together. Because of the problems between their best friends, their relationship had been frayed to the point where it almost broke down. They both sat on the balcony, holding each other in silence.

"I really am sorry about what I said about Troy." Taylor said breaking the silence.

"It's okay Tay. I know that you were just trying to protect your best friend as was I. We both care about them and just want to protect them." Chad took a deep breath before continuing. "Tay do you wanna know what's wrong with him?" she nodded and sat up to look at him. "He suffers from depression."

"What? When did you guys find out about that?"

"In our sophomore year of college." he leaned his head against the exterior wall of the house and stared at the sky. "I found him one day, after practice in the locker room shower, fully dressed with the water running. He was...he slit his wrists." Taylor gasped and Chad blinked to keep his tears from falling. "I turned off the shower and I-I panicked. I didn't know what to do. He was so close to the end and I had no idea how to help him. I called for help and one of our teammates came into the locker room and saw us. He called 911 and we just sat there, waiting, hoping that Troy wouldn't slip away from us before it was too late.

Finally the paramedics came and they carried him off to the hospital. I drove like a maniac to get there, just so I wouldn't be away from him for two long. Luckily the doctors were able to save him but after that, I knew something was wrong. I asked the doctors if there was something the matter with him and they said they didn't know but would run tests to see. An hour later one of them came back and that's when she told me that he suffers from depression."

"Did they know why he tried to commit suicide?"

"No. He never said why he tried. He won't even talk about it."

"So that must mean Gabriella doesn't know why he was diagnosed with his disorder."

"Yeah but don't say anything to her."

"Why?"

"Because she needs to hear it from him. It's bad enough that he's keeping it from her but to know that her best friend already knows will make it even worse. Just let him tell her."

"And what if he never tells her?"

"Then she'll never know."

"She can't be kept from this."

"Troy will tell her when he's ready to. Even if it takes most of their life, he'll tell her one day." Taylor sighed and smiled at Chad.

"I hope you're right."

"When am I never?" she rolled her eyes and he chuckled before kissing her softly. "Don't worry over it. Everything will work out fine." she nodded and leaned against him.

Three o'clock came sooner than everyone thought. They all piled into the two cars and headed towards the city. After an hour and a half of taking a different route to a different bridge, they came into the borough of the Bronx and it took them about ten minutes to reach the exit for the Bronx Zoo.

They found spots in the parking lot and went to the entrance to pay for their tickets. Each girl held their boyfriend's hand as they walked down the paths, looking at the lights that lit them.

"I've never seen anything this beautiful." Kelsi said and Jason looked at her.

"I have." she looked at him and smiled before placing a kiss on his lips. Everything that happened over the past two days seemed to just disappear. The lights and their being together made it all seem like a dream. To Troy, it was just that: a dream.

Troy looked over at the girl beside him, her eyes shining with a light only she could produce. He smiled at her and she looked at him.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just...I still can't believe that you're with me right now." she smiled and placed her free hand on his cheek.

"Well believe it cause I'm not going anywhere." she whispered and leaned up to kiss him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck.

"Hey love birds." they broke apart and saw Chad smirking at them. "Are you coming or what?" they smiled sheepishly before running to catch up with the others.

The group made their way further up the path and reached the sea lions. They stopped at the exhibit and watched the sea lions swim around. One was calling out for something but no one knew what.

"Do you think he's hungry?" Jason asked.

"No I think you're hungry." Sharpay answered and everyone laughed, knowing it was probably true.

"You're right I am." he said with a hand on his stomach, making everyone laugh harder.

"Well according to this map there's a big café on the other side." Taylor said looking at the map.

"Alright." Kelsi smiled but rolled her eyes at her 'always hungry' boyfriend.

"Hey let's go take a look in the monkey house." Destiny said and everyone followed her to the monkey house. Inside was crowded with little kids and their parents but the friends were still able to see the monkeys.

"Hey guys look. It's the monkey from _Pirates Of The Carribean_." Zeke said and they all flocked to a window where little black and white monkeys moved around.

"They're called Capuchin Monkeys" Kelsi said looking at the fact card.

"They're adorable." Sharpay said. "I want one."

"Shar you know you can't have everything." Ryan said and she glared at him.

"Says who? If I asked dad for a monkey, you and I both know he wouldn't deny me. He never denies his little girl." Ryan rolled his eyes and walked away from his twin.

They spent five more minutes inside, looking at the monkeys before leaving. They stopped at a small area where there were eight reindeer inside of a fenced off area.

"I bet you can't name all of Santa's reindeer." Troy said and Gabriella looked at him.

"In order?"

"In order."

"Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and of course Rudolph."

"I'm impressed."

"Never challenge me. Remember the last time you did? You got your butt beaten at DDR." he laughed and shook his head.

"Come on." he said and pushed off the fence.

They walked through a domed building where a beautifully lit Christmas tree on a pedestal stood. All the girls admired it while the boys just tried to usher them out of the building. They continued to follow the lights until they got to the café.

"Food." Jason said and ran inside. Kelsi rolled her eyes and ran after him.

"I guess we should go catch up to him." Chad said and everyone walked faster to catch up. "Dude you coming?" he asked when he saw Troy hadn't moved. Gabriella also noticed this and stopped walking.

"You guys go ahead. I'll be right there." Gabriella walked up him and gave him a look of concern.

"You okay?" she asked him and he nodded.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'll only be a few minutes."

"Okay but do you want anything?" he shook his head and smiled

"I'll probably just eat off of your plate." she smiled and he kissed her forehead. "Go on. I'll be right there." she nodded and followed Chad inside.

Troy turned around and went inside the gift shop that stood opposite to the café. He walked around for a few minutes before choosing a small stuffed tiger. He knew Gabriella had a thing for stuffed animals so it was perfect for her. He went up to the register and paid, asking the cashier if she could staple the bag for him. He left the store, stapled bag in hand, and went across to the café.

"So what did you buy?" Gabriella asked noticing the bag in his hand.

"Wouldn't you like to know." he said as he sat across from her and stole a fry.

"I would. That's why I asked."

"Too bad you're going to have to wait."

"Please?"

"Nope."

"Fine no food for you."

"I can live with no food. The question is: can you live with denying me food?" he gave her a questioning look and she sighed, defeated.

"No." she passed the tray back over to him and he smiled, victoriously.

After they finished leaving, they threw out their trash and walked over to where people were making s'mores. They made their own s'mores and kept walking. They reached a fork in the road where a carousel stood. One way was another building, the other was two other buildings (one with a giant butterfly over the entrance).

"That carousel is so cool." Chad said, noticing that the so-called 'horses' weren't horses but giant bugs. "Can we ride it?"

"I think I'll pass." Sharpay said.

"Same here." Gabriella said, not really a big fan of bugs.

"Suit yourself." Chad said and ran to the entrance, pulling Taylor along with him. Destiny, Kelsi, Jason and Ryan followed behind while Troy, Gabriella, Zeke and Sharpay stayed behind.

"You wanna go to the reptile house?" Troy asked pointing to the building behind them.

"Sure. They can't be any worse than bugs."

"Or mice." Sharpay said.

"What?"

"That building over there is the mouse house and Zeke wants me to go with him." both girls shuddered and Gabriella looked at Sharpay with sympathy.

"Good luck."

Troy and Gabriella went over to the reptile house while Sharpay and Zeke went to the mouse house.

"Whoa look at that snake." Troy said as they came across the first exhibit. Gabriella stood a good two feet away from the glass, not really wanting to see it. "You can't see it if you stand that far away."

"I'm fine where I am."

"Are you afraid of snakes?"

"No. Yes. Maybe a little." Troy gave her a skeptical look and she sighed. "Okay maybe a lot."

"Come here." he said holding out his hand. She took it and he pulled her closer to the glass. She reluctantly walked closer, dreading each step. "It's not gonna hurt you. It's behind glass." he said, standing behind her.

"I know but...you can never be too careful." he shook his head and kissed her temple.

"I would never let anything hurt you." he whispered in her ear and she turned her head to look at him. She smiled and he kissed the corner of her eye. "Come on." he took her hand and led her through the rest of the building.

They walked out minutes later, finding their friends were finished on the carousel.

"How was it?" Troy asked.

"Fun." Chad said excitedly and Taylor rolled her eyes.

"Calm down before you do something you'll regret." she said.

"Babe. I never do anything I regret." he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "I know when I asked you out I didn't regret it." she blushed slightly and smiled shyly.

"I am never doing that again." Chad and Taylor's moment was ruined by a fuming Sharpay and everyone looked at her like she had two heads.

"It wasn't that bad." Zeke said coming up behind her.

"There was nothing but little vermin running around behind glass in there. You call that not that bad?"

"What happened?" Ryan asked.

"Let's just say members of the mouse family are not friends of your sister." Zeke responded.

"I could have told you that."

"Can we just go now?" Sharpay asked and everyone nodded. They all started walking back the way they came and just as they got to the other side of the domed building, Gabriella noticed another pathway. She stopped and stared down it.

"Gabs what's wrong?" Troy asked and she looked at him.

"There's another path." she said and he walked over to her. He looked to where his friends were and noticed they didn't see them stop.

"Jeez their oblivious." he mumbled before turning back to Gabriella. "You wanna go check it out?" she nodded and they stared off down the path lit by more lights. They eventually made their way to an exhibit called Tiger Mountain.

"Tigers." she squealed and ran inside. He smirked and followed behind her. She stood close to the glass, admiring two tigers who sat next to each other to keep warm. "Aren't they beautiful?" she asked as Troy came up behind her.

"Yeah."

"I love tigers. They represent both strength and beauty."

"Hm...that sounds like someone I know."

"Really? Who?" he smirked and leaned down so he was close to her ear.

"You." he whispered and she turned to face him. He smiled and brushed a stray hair out of her face, his hand lingering on her cheek. She leaned into his touch before he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "You don't know how much I love you." he whispered as he leaned his forehead against hers.

"No. But I think I have an idea." he grinned and she bit her lip. "We should go find the others before they go crazy." he nodded and took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together.

They found the others five minutes later, all of them hanging around the sea lion exhibit. They made their way back to the parking lot and drove home. The second they got back in the house, everyone said their goodnights, going straight to bed. Troy took a seat on the couch and Gabriella came up behind him.

"I'm going to bed okay? So I'll see you in the morning." she said touching his shoulders.

"Wait. Don't you wanna know what I got you?"

"Didn't you said I had to wait?"

"Yeah but I didn't mean for Christmas." she took a seat beside him, curious as to what he got her. He handed her the bag and she slowly took it from him. "Open it." she carefully ripped the bag open and gasped when she saw the tiger at the bottom.

"Troy...you didn't have to get this for me."

"I know but I remembered how much you love stuffed animals and tigers so I thought it was nothing short of perfect for you." she smiled and hugged the stuffed tiger close to her.

"Thank you."

"It was my pleasure." she looked at him before leaning over and giving him a quick peck on the lips. "That's all I get?" she laughed and shook her head before leaning back over and making the kiss last longer.

"Night." she said and ran upstairs. He watched her leave and waited for her door to close before going up to his room.


	17. 8 Days Of Christmas

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: with only eight days left I doubt I will get it for Christmas_**

**A/N: this chapter came out long despite the no reference at all to what they did at the Botanical Gardens, I think it has to do with the drama at the end. I keep forgetting to do this but I want to congratulate my friend musicalfreak15 because she was the first one to guess that Troy had depression, so I want to congratulate her on being right.**

_8 Days Of Christmas_

**December 17; 8 more days until Christmas**

The next morning was just like the previous morning. Everyone looked for something to do as they waited for the afternoon to come. Zeke and Ryan competed against each other on _Guitar Hero_ leaving their girlfriends to watch. Chad and Taylor spent a little time in the hot tub. Kelsi and Jason spent some quality time in front of the television. This left the upstairs vacant and available.

Troy and Gabriella took advantage of the vacancy and laid side by side on his bed. She had her head on his chest and her right hand was entwined with his left. They were mostly silent, only talking when one of them thought of something and shared a kiss every once in a while. They really were just enjoying each others company.

"Troy..."

"Hm?" Gabriella propped her head up on her arm and looked at him.

"What's gonna happen after this is over?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...when we go back to college. You'll be going back to LA and me to Albuquerque. What's gonna happen to us?"

"Nothing will happen unless you want something to happen."

"Promise?"

"I promise." she smiled and he stroked her cheek with his free hand. "Now let's not talk about anything that involves after New Years."

"What else is there to talk about?"

"I don't know. Random stuff I guess." she lifted herself off of him and moved so she was straddling him.

"How about we skip the small talk and do something a little more fun?"

"I have no idea where this Gabi came from but I'm not complaining." she grinned and leaned down, passionately kissing him on the lips. He reached up, placing his hand on her cheek, gently stroking it with his thumb. He pushed his hand further up, tangling his fingers in her hair. She ran a hand over his chest, stopping at the hem of his shirt, where a slither of skin was exposed and moved her hand under his shirt. He moved his other hand along her thigh and up her shirt to the base of her bra.

"Hey guys...oops." Jason stopped when he saw the position his friends were in.

"You need something Jase?" Troy asked while Gabriella tried to hide her embarrassed blush.

"Um...we're going to get something to eat. I just came to see if you two wanted to come."

"Yeah we'll be there in a sec." Jason left the room and Troy sighed, leaning his head on the pillow. Gabriella started laughing for no reason and he looked at her like she was crazy. "What are you laughing about?"

"I don't think Jason's going to be able to look directly at you for a while."

"Why do you say that?"

"He just walked in on me and you about to have sex. I think that's a little uncomfortable for him."

"If only he knew what we did while he was sleeping the night away." she laughed again and he smiled before kissing her. "We should go downstairs." she nodded and got off of him. She stood up and waited for him to get up before grabbing his hand and heading downstairs.

Everyone's eyes went to them and they all had smirks on their face. Troy shook his head, knowing Jason had told everyone what he walked in on. Jason was really blunt about things, not realizing when not to talk. But Troy found that Gabriella was right, Jason wasn't able to look Troy in the eye.

"So where are we going?"

"To get something to eat." Sharpay said with a smirk. "Though I doubt you're hungry right now."

"Guys whatever Jason told you is a lie. Nothing happened."

"Oh we know. We just wanted to see how fast you would jump to conclusions. Anyway I'm hungry. Let's go."

They left the house and got into the cars. They headed towards the nearest restaurant and got the biggest booth in the restaurant. Throughout lunch, Gabriella was feeling a little on the frisky side and kept running her foot along the inside of Troy's thigh. He looked up at her, shock setting across his face. She smiled, seductively at him, and he gave her a quick smile.

"Guys I'll be right back." he said and left the table. Gabriella watched him leave and waited a few minutes before going after him.

"Be right back." she said and ran towards where she saw him last. She was instantly pulled into an empty area and pushed against the wall.

"What took you so long?" he asked but crushed his lips against hers before she could answer.

They went back to the table ten minutes later, receiving knowing smiles from their friends. They took their seats but refused to acknowledge the looks their friends were giving them.

"Where were you two?" Taylor asked.

"That's none of your business." Gabriella answered and Taylor smirked. They continued to eat and a conversation eventually started.

After they finished eating, they paid for their food and started into the city. They took the same route as they did when they went to the zoo but got off one exit later. They parked in the lot and brought their tickets.

They stayed at the Botanical Gardens for two hours before they headed back to Long Island. Once back at the house, Zeke decided to cook dinner and everyone went into the living room to wait. Minutes after they got home the doorbell rung.

"I'll get it." Taylor said and got off of Chad's lap. When she answered the door, she gasped when she saw Will standing there. "What are you doing here?"

"Where's Gabriella?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I have some news for her that I think she might wanna know."

"Well too bad. I'm not letting you in."

"Gabriella" he called and she, along with everyone else, appeared at the door.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked in a venomous tone and he smiled, ignoring her tone.

"I need to speak to you."

"What could you possibly want to talk to me about that we already haven't discussed?"

"Let's go somewhere private and I'll tell you."

"Whatever you have to say to me you can say to my friends."

"Really? Cause I don't think you'd want your friends to hear what I have to say."

"Either you say it or you leave."

"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you. Well the news that I have involves your little boy toy over there." he said nodding over to Troy but she didn't look, she kept her eyes on Will, wanting him to just burst into flames. "So Troy did you tell Gabriella about your depression?"

"Yes Will I know about that. If that's all you have to say then please leave."

"That's actually not all I have. Did he tell you how he found out he was suffering from depression?" Gabriella raised a curious eyebrow at her ex-boyfriend and shook her head. Troy, Chad, Taylor and Sharpay paled, knowing what was coming next.

"Why don't you go home Will." Troy said stepping in front of Gabriella.

"Quick to act, huh Troy?"

"Just leave...now."

"Not until she knows about this. I'm surprised you've been keeping this from her."

"Don't you dare..."

"Gabriella, Troy found out about his depression after..."

"Shut up." Troy lunged at him, knocking him to the ground.

"Troy stop." Gabriella yelled but her cries went on deaf ears. Zeke and Jason pulled Troy off of Will and Will just laughed.

"You're really going through great lengths to make sure she doesn't find out about your attempted suicide." the air in the room became tense as five of the eleven people in the room realized what was just revealed to them. Gabriella stood in her spot, still as a statue, trying to hold back her tears.

"Gabriella." Troy said and tried to move closer to her.

"Is it true?"

"I...Gabriella I was..."

"Just tell me the truth Troy." she yelled and looked at him, her eyes showing anger and hurt. "Did you really try to kill yourself?" Troy stared at her, his mouth agape before sighing and nodding.

"It's true. But..."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What was I supposed to do? Say 'oh Gabriella now that you know about my depression, maybe you should know that I slit my wrists two years ago?'"

"Yes. At least tell me something about it instead of keeping it from me."

"I'm sorry okay? I was just afraid that you might judge me."

"That's no excuse to keep this from me." she turned around and began to walk towards the stairs.

"Gabriella I'm sure he didn't mean to keep this from you." Taylor said and Gabriella looked at her.

"You knew?" she asked and Taylor nodded.

"Chad told me."

"Oh well that's just great. Who else knew?" Sharpay and Ryan raised their hands and Gabriella nodded. "Wow. My best friends knew before I did. How great is that?" she ran upstairs and the sound of a slamming door was heard. Troy cringed at the sound, knowing that he just screwed everything up...again.

"How did you find out about it?" Sharpay asked.

"It's called the internet. You can easily put in someone's name and get almost everything about them. That's no exception for Mr. Bolton over there. I mean he was starting forward on UCLA's team when this came out. You should have waited until it was off season Bolton. Maybe this little detail wouldn't be hanging around your reputation."

"Bastard." Troy growled and turned around, once again lunging himself at Will. This time no one moved to stop him until they saw that Will was close to being unconscious.

"I'll take care of him." Jason said after he and Zeke pulled Troy off of Will. Troy turned around and went upstairs. He went straight for Gabriella's door and knocked.

"Go away." she said.

"Gabriella please just let me in."

"What makes you think I wanna talk to you after what Will told me?"

"Can I just talk to you for a second?"

"No. I don't wanna talk to. Not now, not ever."

"Gabriella please don't do this."

"You shouldn't have kept this from me."

"I know and I'm sorry. Will you just let me talk to you please?"

"Go. Away." Troy sighed and closed his eyes tightly, fighting back the tears.

"I'm sorry okay?" he said and dropped to his knees. "I'm so sorry." he whispered before getting up and going to his room.


	18. The Christmas Song

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: still waiting to get it in the mail_**

**A/N: I have to say I love my reviewers. I feel like this is a soap opera. Everyone has their own opinion about it and it's like you all sit around and talk about it through your computer.**

_The Christmas Song_

**December 18; 7 more days until Christmas**

Troy lied awake in the early morning, listening to Jason's loud snores. It wasn't his friend's snores that kept him awake, it was the fact that he kept an important detail from his girlfriend. He knew he should have just told her when they got together but he was truly afraid that she might change her mind about him.

'_I guess she was just caught in a moment.'_ he thought and rolled over to his side. He sighed and closed his eyes, slipping off in and out of sleep.

The sun rose two hours later and with the sun, rose half of the house occupants. One of them was Gabriella. She went straight into the living room and sat on the couch, not really wanting to interact with the rest of her friends. She felt horrible about shutting Troy out last night but she was too upset to say anything to him.

Taylor watched her best friend from the doorway of the living room. She knew how distraught Gabriella was and she knew she should have just told Gabriella about it when Chad told her. But Chad was right, Gabriella should have found out from Troy and not the way she did. Maybe if Troy would have told her, she would have understood more.

"Gabi." she said as she walked into the living room. Gabriella lifted her head and smiled sadly at her best friend. Taylor took the seat next to her and sighed. "You okay?" Gabriella nodded, the smile slowly slipping off her face, before shaking her head 'no.' "I know you're mad at Troy..."

"I'm not mad just...upset."

"Then why don't you go upstairs and tell him that?"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I want him to come to me and tell me why he did it. I wanna know from him why he tried to kill himself."

"How do you know he'll come to you?"

"I don't know. I'm just hoping he will." just as she finished her sentence, Troy came down the staircase, his eyes looking more tired than usual.

"Whoa." Chad said as he came out of the kitchen and spotted his friend. "You look like the living dead. What happened?"

"I had a lot of things on my mind and Jason's snoring was loud as hell."

"I do not snore." Jason said from the dining room.

"Oh believe me buddy, you do." Troy walked into the kitchen and grabbed a piece of toast.

"That's all you're eating?"

"Yeah I'm not that hungry." Chad nodded but raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"Everyone get ready. We're about to go shopping." Sharpay said excitedly and all the boys rolled their eyes.

"Great." the boys said in unison and the remaining four girls couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh come on boys it won't be that bad." Destiny said.

"You know...you're right." Chad said with a smirk.

"Why are you so happy?" Ryan asked.

"Because I know my girlfriend's not that big a shopper. The only one that should really be worried is Zeke cause he's got the mother of all shoppers as a girlfriend." Zeke froze, realizing Chad was right.

"Fuck." he cursed and went to find Sharpay. "Shar." he called and disappeared into the next room. Everyone else laughed and they made their way towards the garage. When Troy got to the car, he noticed Gabriella sitting in the back next to Taylor and knew she was doing it to avoid him. He sighed and sat in the passenger seat next to Chad.

Chad sent him a sympathetic smile before starting the car and driving off. The drive into the city was quiet, the only sound was the sound of the radio playing softly in the background. Everyone seemed lost in their thoughts (well mostly everyone, Kelsi and Jason was just quiet cause everyone else was).

"So did Sharpay say where exactly we're going to shop in the city?" Kelsi asked, breaking the silence and hopefully starting a conversation.

"You know Sharpay. She says we're going someplace but never gives us the rest of the information." Taylor answered.

"So basically we're just going into the city blindfolded?"

"Yep."

The conversation dropped for the rest of the trip. Silence was once again dominate over the driver and passengers. They finally got to the city and found a parking lot. They walked around the streets of Manhattan, sometimes using the subway. The entire time, Gabriella stuck to Taylor, leaving Troy to brood over his current situation.

"Troy why don't you just explain why you kept it from her." Chad suggested.

"What good will that do? If she wouldn't let me explain yesterday, what makes you think she'll listen today?"

"Look I overheard Taylor and Gabriella talking this morning and Gabi said that if you were to come to her and explain everything that she would listen and try to understand."

"But she's mad at me. How am I supposed to talk to her when she won't talk to me?"

"Actually she's not mad at you, she's just upset that you kept that part of your life a secret."

"I didn't mean to keep it a secret, I just didn't want her to see me differently."

"Well tell her that." Troy sighed and looked at the back of Gabriella's head. "How about you tell her when we get back to the house? That way at least you know that she won't try and avoid you." Troy nodded and the two walked faster the catch up with the others.

After spending a few hours downtown, they headed back to the parking lot to get the cars and headed back to Long Island. The shopping trip was somewhat successful. Sharpay was able to pick up a few things for her parents. Kelsi found some nice sports memorabilia for Jason and Destiny found a few Broadway things for Ryan.

When they got to the house, everyone went their separate ways. Kelsi went upstairs to take a bath, Jason and Zeke headed into the game room with Chad following. Sharpay and Destiny went up to their room to wrap their gifts and Taylor went into the kitchen to find something to eat. Gabriella once again settled herself in the living room, this time turning on the tv. Troy followed her silently so she wouldn't try to avoid him.

"Gabriella." she looked up at the sound of his voice and he inched his way into the living room. "C-Can I talk to you for a second?" she nodded and moved over so he could sit down. He sat next to her, his eyes focused on the floor. "I-I'm sorry...about keeping that whole thing a secret."

"Why didn't you just tell me about it?"

"I don't know I guess..." he took a deep breath before looking at her and continuing. "I guess I was just afraid."

"Of what?"

"Of making you see me differently, of making you judge me."

"What made you think I would do that?"

"Some insecurities that I need to work out." he adverted his eyes but she just stared at him.

"Troy...if I ever made you feel insecure then I'm sorry but it's no excuse to keep something like that from me."

"I know. I know. I should have told you sooner but I just couldn't bring myself to. You're not mad at me are you?"

"Upset but not mad." she moved closer to him and took his hand in hers. "What happened to the way we were in high school? What happened to the Troy I knew who used to be open to me? Who told me everything? I miss that Troy. Why can't I have him back?"

"Because that Troy died the day he tried to commit suicide."

"Maybe he did." she said with a short laugh, one that held no real happiness. "Or maybe he's just hiding, waiting for the day when he can come back." he looked at her, her eyes searching his soul for what she was looking for. "I know he's still in there and I want him to come back." Troy looked down and she put a hand on his cheek, moving his face so he could look at her. "Please let him come back." she kissed his lips softly before walking away and going upstairs.

Troy stood in the same spot, staring at where Gabriella once stood. He broke out of his trance and sighed before flopping onto the couch.

Troy didn't stay for dinner, finding his appetite was non-existent after his and Gabriella's talk. He went up to his room, wanting only to be alone. Gabriella knew that she was only pushing Troy away but she hoped that he cared about her enough to not let her do it. Throughout dinner, she kept quiet, her mind focused on nothing but the hurt in Troy's eyes when she walked away from him.

After dinner, she walked up to Troy's door and knocked softly. When no answer came, she sighed and walked away. When she went into her room, Troy's door opened and he peered into the hallway, his eyes focused on Gabriella's door. He stared at it for a few seconds before going back into his room and closing the door.

**A/N: don't worry the Troyella drama will clear up soon.**


	19. My Christmas List

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer::sighs:: I want to, I really do but I don't._**

**A/N: wow...this story is like slowly coming to an end. ::sighs:: great...this is depressing. I really like writing this story. There's only six more days until Christmas (I know I already have it typed below but I couldn't help myself). For all of you who are resenting Gabriella right now, she has a mind changing revelation at the end so you won't see anymore of that _old_ Gabriella you saw before. Once this story is over, I will be continuing my other stories (hopefully) along with a new story that I have typed up but am not going to put out until I have at least five chapters done (I'm only on chapter two). I'm still having trouble with being able to upload my HSM2 DVD onto a computer (i.e. my laptop) so Lil-Evans I haven't forgot about that video I promised you. Sorry I didn't update this earlier but I was no where near a computer the entire day.**

_My Christmas List_

**December 19; 6 more days until Christmas**

Troy really didn't want to get out of bed the next morning but he knew if he didn't Sharpay would have his head for it. He reluctantly climbed out of bed and went to take a shower. After getting dressed he walked downstairs, not speaking a word to anyone and sat down at the table across from Gabriella. He ate without looking up at her, despite the fact that she was staring at him. After breakfast, everyone went to the garage.

"Jase can I switch seats with you...just for today." he whispered as they walked into the garage.

"Uh sure. I'm sure Kelsi wouldn't mind." Jason said turning to Kelsi, who shook her head.

"Thanks guys." Troy made his way to the back seat and the ones that didn't know about his switch, looked at him with confusion.

"Why's Troy sitting in the back?" Chad asked Jason.

"I don't know. He just said he wanted to switch with me and I said okay." Jason climbed into the passenger seat and everyone else just filed in. Troy brought out his i-Pod and looked out the window. He thought since Gabriella was going to ignore him, he might as well do the same.

Throughout the three hour ride, Troy kept silent, the only sound from him was his i-Pod blasting in his ear. Gabriella looked back, time after time, trying to catch Troy's attention but he just ignored her. She felt as if they had gone back to square one. Back to when they first got there and he ignored her most of the time.

They finally reached the mall and everyone split up. Gabriella wanted to go with Troy to see if maybe they could work _something _out but Taylor insisted that he needed a little time to himself. Troy walked around the huge mall aimlessly. He didn't know what he should have been doing all he knew was there was really no point to him walking around. He finally gave up and walked into a sports store, knowing exactly what to buy his friends. For Ryan he had no idea what to get him. He searched the music store looking for something when he finally remembered that Ryan like musicals so he brought him a few soundtracks from some of his favorite musicals.

He also brought Kelsi a few sheet books, blank of course. He didn't exactly know Destiny well enough to get her anything so he just skipped over her. For Taylor he brought her the only thing he could think of; the complete guide to romance novels. Chad had always told him that Taylor loved romance novels and that guide had the names of every romance novel ever written. For Sharpay, what else could he get her besides a hand bag that read _'I am a princess so get over it'_. It made him laugh just thinking about how much of a princess she thought she was.

For Gabriella, he was at a loss. Sure he had known her for almost six years but he hadn't been in contact with her for almost four of those six years. As he walked around, he passed by a jewelry store and the perfect thing caught his eye. He looked at the gold heart-shaped locket with a rose inside of it. He went inside and asked the man at the counter about it.

"Can I see the locket in the window?" the man went to the window and took the locket out.

"Here ya go." Troy looked at it, its color shimmering in the light.

"How much is it?"

"Two hundred."

"_Two hundred?_" he asked, shocked and looked up.

"Yep."

"Damn it. I can't afford that." he said, looking at the locket knowing that it would be perfect for her.

"How much do you have on you?"

"One-thirty."

"How about you give me one-forty and I'll throw in a chain and engraving?"

"Really?"

"Sure." Troy reached into his pockets taking out the one hundred thirty dollars. He searched further into his wallet and hoped to find a ten but only found a five.

"I only have a five."

"That's fine." Troy smiled and handed the man the money. "Pay me when you come pick it up.

"You mean I can't pick it up now."

"It takes about an hour or two to put the whole engraving in. Here take this and write down what you would like for it to say." he said handing Troy a piece of paper. Troy took the paper and wrote down the only thing he could think of. The one thing he wanted to say to Gabriella that he knew would be hard for him to say. He handed the man the paper and the guy nodded. "Okay. Come back in an hour, hour and a half give or take. It should be ready by then."

"Okay. Thanks. I really appreciate this."

"It's no problem. From what you wrote here, you must really love this girl."

"I do. I really do." the man smiled and Troy walked out of the store. He walked around for a little while before heading to the food court where he knew his friends would be.

"Dude where have you been?" Jason asked as he took a seat across from him.

"Around."

"You not gonna get something to eat?" Chad asked.

"No money."

"You spent all your money?"

"Yeah."

"What the hell did you buy?" Sharpay asked, joining the conversation.

"It's...a secret." he said with a smirk.

"Oh don't play that secret trick on me Troy Bolton."

"Well call it punishment for not telling us what we're gonna do tomorrow." Sharpay grumbled and sat back in her seat.

"But really what _did_ you buy?" Zeke asked.

"Like I told your girlfriend it's a secret." he looked at his watch and nodded. "By time I get there it should be done." he said to himself.

"What should be done?"

"Nothing. I'll see you guys back at the car." he stood up and walked away from his confused friends.

"What do you think Troy's being all secretive about?" Taylor asked Gabriella as they headed back to the cars.

"I don't know but it makes me wish Christmas was tomorrow."

"So you think it's a gift for someone?"

"Yeah. What else would it be?"

"Who do you think it's for?"

"That I don't know. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

Upon arriving back at the cars, they all noticed Troy standing outside the SUV, his headphones back in his ears. Chad unlocked the SUV and Troy reclaimed his space in the back seat. Once they got back to the house, Troy went upstairs and locked himself in his room.

"What do you think he's doing up there?" Kelsi asked.

"Probably hiding all those presents he got us." Chad answered.

"Hey Shar you have any wrapping paper?" Troy asked as he came down the stairs.

"No not yet. I have to go buy some."

"Okay. Thanks anyway." he went back upstairs and went back into his room.

"Troy dinner's ready." Gabriella called three hours later as she knocked on his door. He opened it and she smiled at him. He smiled sadly before moving past her and walking downstairs. The whole time at dinner, he ate quietly. He didn't contribute to the conversation nor did he laugh at one of Chad's stupid jokes. He thought no one noticed but they did, they just didn't want him to know.

After dinner, everyone went into the living room to watch tv but Troy went upstairs to his room. Gabriella noticed this and followed him.

"Troy are you okay?" she asked before he could go into his room. He turned slightly to look at her and nodded. "You sure. You don't seem like it." she moved closer to him and he turned fully to face her.

"You should know if anything's wrong with me. You seem to notice everything else about me."

"I know you're mad at me about yesterday but I just miss the old you."

"I'm not mad, just upset."

"Look I understand that I'm probably the last person you wanna talk to at the moment but..."

"But what Gabriella?"

"But I just want you to open up to me again."

"Can you stop thinking about yourself for just one second?" he said and took a step closer to her. "Don't you think that maybe I don't want you to know everything? Yes, Chad knew before you but that was because he was there when it happened. He's the one that found me. As for Tay and Sharpay, Chad told them. Hell I didn't even know he told Taylor until she told you that she knew. You think I want to be know as the UCLA forward that tried to commit suicide? No I don't. And I certainly don't want that to interfere with my social life. Chad and me don't even bring that up anymore. We want to forget it. It was a stupid thing for me to do, I know that but it's in the past. I don't want my past to get in the way of the future I want for myself. So I'm sorry if I want to keep my private life to myself."

"Troy...I..."

"You keep saying that you want the old Troy back. The old Troy is dead. He died two years ago in the locker room belonging to the UCLA sports teams. Do you even truly love me?"

"Of course I do."

"Really? Cause I'm not getting the feeling that you do. If you truly love me then you would accept me for who I am now, not who I was six years ago." he walked away from her and went into his room, leaving Gabriella to reflect on his words.

'_He's right. I should just accept him for who he is now. I guess I was just so stuck in the past, I let it get in the way of what was right in front of me. I should just let my past stay in the past. Troy is different than he was six years ago but then again...he's still the same. He's still the Troy I met all those New Year's ago. He may be different but he's still Troy..._my_ Troy.'_ she smiled to herself and went into her room. She knew what she had to do tomorrow. She knew she had to tell Troy that she was willing to accept him for who his is now, she _wanted_ to accept him for who his is now.


	20. Christmas Wish

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: I want it sooooo bad_**

**A/N: I know I'm late in the day but my computer's being a jackass and won't work right so I couldn't type all of this yesterday so I wrote some of it yesterday and the rest today. That's why it's so long.**

_Christmas Wish_

**December 20; 5 days until Christmas**

Gabriella was the first to awake the next morning. She had too much on her mind to stay asleep. She went downstairs to the kitchen and decided to cook breakfast for everyone and give Zeke a break. By eight, she was done and mostly everyone was up.

"I smell food." Chad said and ran into the kitchen. "Morning Gabs."

"Morning." she said with a smile.

"I didn't know you cooked."

"My mom taught me."

"That means it _has_ to be good." Ryan said and stood off to the side as she placed the food she made on different plates.

"What smells so good in here?" Destiny asked.

"Gabriella's cooking." Chad said, nearly drooling over the freshly made food.

"Can you please stop drooling?" Taylor said and smacked the back of his head.

"Ow."

"Then close your mouth."

"I'm sorry if food is my first love."

"What?" she asked with a growl.

"Uh...nothing, nothing. Forget I said anything." he said and backed away from his girlfriend.

"Okay guys, grab a plate and dig in." Gabriella said and everyone rushed over, pushing each other just to get something. Gabriella laughed at the scene in front of her. It was amazing how they were fighting over food. Out the corner of her eye she spotted Troy walking into the kitchen.

"Whoa." he said and stopped walking. "What war broke out in here?" he asked.

"The war over Gabriella's cooking." Chad answered. "You should try it. It's delicious." Troy looked over at Gabriella, who kept her eyes on everyone fighting over her food, her smile no longer adorning her face. He walked over to the island and grabbed a plate. He put whatever he could get on his plate and headed into the dining room.

"Why didn't we think of that?" Jason asked when he saw Troy go into the dining room.

"Maybe it's because you all are too busy fighting over food." Sharpay said and did the same as Troy.

After breakfast, everyone started to get dressed for whatever Sharpay had planned for them(which she had yet to explain). Gabriella and Troy were the first to finish so she took that opportunity to talk to him.

"Hey." she said as she sat beside him on the couch.

"Hey." he said without taking his eyes off the tv.

"Can we talk?" she said playing with her fingers. He glanced at her and nodded. He turned around to face her and she sighed. "I thought about what you said last night and I..."

"Guys lets go or we're gonna be late." Sharpay yelled and Gabriella groaned.

"We should go." Troy said and she nodded. They left the living room and went into the hallway.

"Okay guys today we're going to have the limo back so you don't have to worry about being cramped up." Sharpay said happily and walked outside. Everyone followed and climbed into the back seat of the limo. Troy, unfortunately, sat on the other end from Gabriella so she wasn't able to talk to him.

An hour and a half later, the group arrived outside of a children's hospital. They all looked out the window then at Sharpay.

"A hospital?" Taylor asked.

"Not just any hospital. A children's hospital."

"Why are we here Shar?" Ryan asked.

"For a charity event."

"What do we have to do?" Chad asked, though he really didn't want to know the answer.

"Just help out and..." she cleared her throat before mumbling "sing"

"What?" they all yelled and she cringed.

"It's no big deal really."

"Shar I haven't sung since high school." Troy said and Sharpay smiled innocently at him.

"Oh come on Troy. For old times sakes."

"I'll _think _about it."

"Yay." she squealed. "Let's go." they all filed out of the limo and went inside the building.

"How may I help you?" said the woman behind the desk.

"Yes. We're here for the charity event."

"Name please."

"Sharpay Evans."

"Ah yes. Ms. Evans. Go to the fourth floor and ask for a Dr. Rogers."

"Thank you." she said with a smile and turned to her friends. "Let's go guys. Oh wait. Daniels do you have the bag?" she asked the chauffeur who stood at the back of the group.

"Yes Ms. Evans."

"Good. Let's go." they all followed Sharpay to the elevator and filed into it, pressing the button for the fourth floor. Once they got out, they followed Sharpay to another desk where she stopped, a vibrant smile on her face. "Can you tell me where I can find Dr. Rogers?"

"Right down the hall to your left. First door on your right." the man said and Sharpay nodded.

"Thank you." she walked away from the desk, with the others following. They reached the door they were directed to.

"Ah you must be Ms. Evans." said a green eyed man as he came towards them. He shook hands with Sharpay and she introduced him to everyone else. "Welcome."

"So what exactly is going to happen?" Ryan asked.

"Well we're gonna bring the kids in here and then you guys can sing your first song. Then we'll hand out gifts donated by patrons and you guys can sing some more songs and the rest will just flow along." they nodded and Sharpay turned around.

"Okay guys let's go change."

"Change?" Jason asked.

"Into what?"

"Oh nothing big. Well at least not for you guys. For the girls...now that's a different story."

Minutes later the boys were standing in all white clothing. Sharpay wore a red, v-neck shirt with white trim along the neckline, hem and sleeves and white pants. Kelsi wore the same except her shirt wasn't v-neck, the neckline came up to the base of her neck. Destiny wore the same as Kelsi except she wore a skirt. Taylor wore the same as Destiny except her shirt came to the base of her shoulders and she wore white pants under her skirt. Gabriella wore the same as Taylor but without the pants. All five girls wore white faux-fur boots.

"I can't believe I'm wearing this?" Taylor said.

"I don't know. I kind of like it." Chad said, looking his girlfriend up and down.

"Same here." Ryan said and Destiny blushed.

"The children are ready for you." Dr. Rogers said, poking his head into the hallway.

"Okay we're coming." she said and he nodded. "You guys ready?"

"If we knew what the songs were, we would be." Destiny said.

"Oh right." she took out her purse and handed them all a sheet of paper. They looked at the paper and read over the lyrics before sighing. "Got it?"

"Shar do I really have to sing?" Kelsi asked.

"Of course not. You'll be on the keyboard."

"Yes." she said excitedly.

"Here's the music for the song." Sharpay handed her the sheet music and Kelsi looked it over.

"What about me? Do I have to sing?" Jason asked.

"No you can play drums. Actually the only ones that need to sing are me, Gabriella, Chad, Troy, Taylor and Ryan."

"Yes." said Destiny and Zeke at the same time.

"Don't think you off that easy. You two can be back up." they groaned but they thought it was better than being actual singers. "Gabs me and you are going to switch verses in this song okay?"

"Okay."

"Good then let's go." they all followed Sharpay into the room, where dozens of little kids were waiting. "Ready?" she asked looking at Gabriella.

"I guess so." Gabriella said and Sharpay nodded at Kelsi and Jason to start. The music started, its soft melody flowing through the speakers.

**A/N: **_italic_** is Sharpay, _bold italic_ is Gabriella, _bold italic underline_ is all of them.**

"_Hello friend, it's me again_

_I just called to tell you_

_Even though I miss you so_

_I've been thinking of you_

_All my dreams are coming true, at last...ooh"_

"_**The perfect ending to a wonderful year**_

_**Will be to celebrate the good times with you here**_

_**Cuz I know,**_

_**For sure,**_

_**I never wanted anything more"**_

"_**The greatest gift that there could be**_

_**Wrapped underneath my Christmas tree**_

_**Would be the same my whole life through**_

_**I'd spend the perfect Christmas with you**_

_**Though the winter seems so long**_

_**My faith in love has kept me strong**_

_**So if I had one wish come true**_

_**I'd spend the perfect Christmas with you"**_

"_**I can't wait for the day**_

_**When I finally see you**_

_**So hold on**_

_**I won't be long**_

_**Got so much to show you**_

_**All our dreams come true, at last...ooh"**_

"_The perfect ending to a wonderful year_

_Will be to celebrate the good times with you here_

_Cuz I know, _

_For sure,_

_I never wanted anything more"_

"_**The greatest gift that there could be**_

_**Wrapped underneath my Christmas tree**_

_**Would be the same my whole life through**_

_**I'd spend the perfect Christmas with you"**_

"_**So when you ask me what I mean**_

_**To me the Christmas is complete**_

_**Boy can't you see**_

_**You're the one thing missing for me"**_

"_**The greatest gift that there could be**_

_**Wrapped underneath my Christmas tree**_

_**Would be the same my whole life through**_

_**I'd spend the perfect Christmas with you**_

_**Though the winter seems so long**_

_**My faith in love has kept me strong**_

_**So if I had one wish come true**_

_**I'd spend the perfect Christmas with you"**_

"_**And if I had one wish come true"**_

"_I'd spend the perfect Christmas here...__**"**_

"_**With you"**_

The song ended and all the kids clapped. The six friends in the front of the room smiled and bowed.

"How did you like that kids?" Dr. Rogers asked and they all cheered. "Well they'll be back on later. Right now let's get the gifts going."

They all helped hand out the gifts, each kid leaving with a smile. It made them happy to know that these kids would have something for Christmas.

"Gabs do you wanna sing something?" Sharpay asked and she nodded. She walked over to Kelsi and whispered something in her ear. Kelsi nodded and grabbed Jason, pulling him over to the drum set. Gabriella grabbed the mic and nodded at Kelsi to start. Kelsi started playing a melody and Gabriella took a deep breath before starting.

"_It's always the same at every Christmas_

_When love comes alive around the world_

_We open up our hearts when love is in the air_

_It seems such a shame to me_

_It's a season that comes only once a year_

_So let's make a Christmas wish together_

_Let's hope the best of dreams come true_

_Let's make the spirit last forever_

_This is my Christmas wish for you_

_If I could give any gift I wanted_

_A present to every boy and girl_

_I'd make it a miracle that came from God above_

_A picture of peace on Earth_

_Where each person is judged by the power of love_

_So let's make a Christmas wish together_

_Let's hope the best of dreams come true_

_Let's make the spirit last forever_

_This is my Christmas wish for you_

_Let's make a Christmas wish together_

_Let's hope the best of dreams come true_

_Let's make the spirit last forever_

_This is my Christmas wish for you_

_It seems such a shame to me_

_It's a season that comes only once a year_

_So let's make a Christmas wish together_

_Let's hope the best of dreams come true_

_Let's make the spirit last forever_

_This is my Christmas wish for you_

_Let's make a Christmas wish together_

_Let's hope the best of dreams come true_

_Let's make the spirit last forever_

_This is my Christmas wish for you"_

The kids cheered loudly, putting a smile on Gabriella's face. She bowed and set the mic back on the stand.

"You were great Gabi." Taylor said and hugged her best friend.

"Thanks." she said with a smile. She spotted Troy out the corner of her eye playing with one of the little kids.

"Come on girls let's sing some Christmas carols." Sharpay said and they all grabbed a mic.

They stayed at the hospital for a few hours before calling it a day. They went to get something to eat at the nearest Outback Steakhouse before going back to the house. As they entered the house, Gabriella noticed everyone but Troy heading into the game room. She watched Troy go upstairs and into his room. She took a deep breath and walked up to Troy's room.

"Troy" she called as she knocked on his door.

"Come in." she heard and went in.

"Hey." she said and he looked up from his spot on the bed.

"Hey. What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you...you know, about earlier." she said as she walked further into the room. He moved to a sitting position and she sat at the edge of his bed. "I'm sorry if I seemed selfish for the past two days. I just...I don't know. I thought that maybe you were still the Troy I remember. But after yesterday, I finally realized that you have changed. You're not the same guy I met all those years ago...but at the same time, you are."

"What do you mean?"

"You're still the same Troy despite the fact that you've changed. You still have that kind personality that fell in love with, you still have that special smile that you seem save just for me...and you still have that sparkle in your eyes that shows only when you're truly happy. You've changed, yes...but you're still the old Troy..._my_ Troy. I guess I've just had so much on my mind that I never noticed." she smiled and wrung her fingers. "I guess my heart was so use to having your old self around that it didn't acknowledged the new you along with the old you." she looked up at him and bit her lip. "Do you forgive me?" he smiled softly and nodded.

"Of course I do." she smiled and he looked at her. "To tell you the truth, I was never really mad at you for acting the way you did. I just wanted you to accept me for who I am."

"Well now I do." he moved closer to her and placed a hand on her cheek.

"I love you Gabriella." he said, looking into her eyes.

"I love you too, Troy." she said and her heart jumped when she saw the sparkle in his blue eyes. He leaned closer to her, closing the space between their lips. He placed a soft kiss on her lips, his heart jumping when he felt her kiss back.


	21. The Only Gift

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: I don't own and probably never will_**

**A/N: okay so now that the Troyella drama is over, you'd think that the chapters would be shorter but they're not. This one is eight pages in length on Microsoft Word. There's some M rated material (a.k.a sexual reference) at the bottom. I can't believe there's only four more chapters left which means only four more days until the greatest day of the year (to me it's bigger than my birthday, that's how much I love Christmas). I think I might cry.**

_The Only Gift_

**December 21; 4 more days until Christmas**

Gabriella awoke the next morning, feeling happier than usual. She felt an arm wrapped around her mid-drift and a smile made its way to her face. She turned around, seeing Troy's sleeping face behind her. She snuggled up next to him and kissed the tip of his nose. He stirred before opening his eyes and smiling.

"Morning." he said lowly.

"Morning." she said and kissed his lips.

"Could you two not do that so early in the morning." Jason said as he got out of bed.

"Sorry." Gabriella said, blushing in embarrassment. "I better go get dressed." she whispered to Troy and he nodded.

"Kay." he pecked her lips and smiled. "See you later." she bit her lip to keep down the huge smile that wanted to break out on her face before getting out of Troy's bed and going back to her room.

"Where were you young lady?" Taylor asked when Gabriella came through the door.

"Troy's room." she said with a smile.

"And what were you doing in Troy's room?"

"Sleeping." Taylor gave Gabriella a skeptical look, not believing her. "I swear that's all we were doing."

"Okay. So did you two sort out your differences?" she nodded and went to sit on her bed. "That's great." Taylor said and jumped onto Gabriella's bed, landing next to her. "So there's no tension between you two anymore right?"

"Right."

"Finally."

"Girls we're about to eat, you coming?" Destiny asked, poking her head into the room.

"I'm coming." Taylor said and stood up.

"Give me a few minutes. I have to change out of this."

"Change after breakfast. Let's go eat."

"Fine." Gabriella stood up and followed Taylor and Destiny downstairs. Gabriella took her seat across from Troy, his face lighting up when he set his eyes on her. She smiled at him before she starting eating.

After breakfast, everyone went to shower and change. Today's plan was to decorate the house, inside and out. Of course the boys would be doing the outside work but it was still a pretty big job doing the inside.

Gabriella and Kelsi got stuck with the job of decorating the stairs while Taylor and Destiny decorated the living room. Sharpay took the liberty of decorating the kitchen, with the intention of cooking later on. Zeke, Chad and Jason had to decorate the roof while Troy and Ryan had to decorate the house itself.

Lunch time came and only half of the house had been finished. Everyone filed into the dining room, ready to eat. Sharpay came out of kitchen with Zeke, plates of food in their hands.

"So how's the decorating going?" Sharpay asked as they ate.

"It's going okay." Chad responded. "I just wish we didn't _have_ to decorate the roof."

"Well too bad. You _have_ to."

"Why?"

"Because a decorated house is not decorated with the roof."

"But it's so hard."

"Well suck up and get it over with." Chad crossed his arms and stuck out his lower lip, giving up. "_Anyway_. What about you guys?" she asked Ryan and Troy.

"We're almost done. It's easier decorating the bottom part of the house than the top." Troy answered, looking over at Chad who stuck his tongue out at him.

"Stop being such a baby." Taylor said to her boyfriend and hit him on his arm.

"Ow...Tay that hurt."

"Oh well." everyone laughed at the antics of their two friends. Troy's eyes wandered from his friends to the girl sitting across from him. Gabriella's eyes did the same and a shy smile played along her lips as her eyes connected with his.

"Why don't we take a break for an hour or two before going back to decorating the house." Destiny suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea." Kelsi said and Sharpay agreed to it.

After lunch, everyone went to do something else that didn't involve working on the house. Troy, Gabriella, Chad and Taylor settled themselves in front of the television. Chad flipped through channels until stopping at a basketball game.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Taylor said.

"What?"

"Don't you get enough of that in school."

"Yeah but it's good to sit down and just watch one instead of playing it." Taylor rolled her eyes but said no more.

"Hey Troy." Sharpay said coming into the living room.

"Hm?" he said without taking his eyes off the tv.

"I need you to do me a favor."

"What's that?" he asked turning his head to look at her.

"I need two extra extension cords for the lights. Do you think you can pick it up for me?"

"Why me?"

"Because you're the only one I can trust with my car."

"What about me?" Chad asked offended.

"Sorry Chaddy boy but I've seen what you can do on the road and I'm afraid for my car's life."

"But I've drove the Lexus before."

"Yeah but I'm not talking about the Lexus. I'm talking about the Mercedes. Two different cars."

"You mean you want me to drive your Mercedes to the nearest store just to pick up two extension cords?"

"Yeah."

"Okay what's the catch?"

"No catch." Troy looked at her skeptically. "I swear there isn't. Can you just go for me please?"

"Fine." she threw him the keys and he caught it with one hand.

"Nice catch." she said and left the room. Troy sighed and stood up.

"You wanna come?" he asked Gabriella and she nodded. She stood up and grabbed his hand, letting him lead her to the garage. Once they left Sharpay came back into the room and looked at the two in the love seat.

"Did he leave?"

"Yeah." Chad answered. "So why did you want him to take your Mercedes?"

"Because I don't want him to be here when his gift gets here."

"What did you get him?" Taylor asked.

"A black Mercedes."

"What?" both Taylor and Chad yelled and she smiled.

"You heard me."

"How could you get him a car and not me?" Chad asked.

"Because like I said, you're more prone to get into accidents. Besides I already have your gift planned out."

"And what's that?"

"I'm not telling you. You're gonna have to wait until Christmas."

"But that's four days away."

"Exactly." Sharpay walked out of the living room and Chad groaned.

"I don't wanna wait that long." he mumbled.

"I know you don't babe." Taylor said and kissed his lips. "But you're gonna have to."

"You know I don't really care about her gift."

"Oh yeah? And why not?"

"Because as long as I have you, I have the only gift I could ever need." Taylor smiled and kissed him again.

"I think that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me, Chad Danforth."

"Well you're the sweetest thing that's ever happened to me, Taylor McKessie." her smile widened and he touched her cheek gently. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"I think you may have once or twice but it's always nice to hear it again."

"Well I love you more than anything in this world."

"I love you too." he closed the space between them, kissing her passionately.

"Guys get a room." Jason said as he passed through. Chad and Taylor broke apart and laughed, blushing furiously at the same time.

Troy had to admit, Sharpay's car was an easy ride to handle. He could see himself driving a car like this.

"What are you thinking about?" Gabriella asked, knocking him from his thoughts.

"This car...among other things."

"Why the car?"

"I can actually see myself driving this everyday."

"I guess you like it."

"Yeah. I might steal this from Sharpay." he said making Gabriella laugh.

"There's a hardware store. You think they might have the cords?" Gabriella asked and he shrugged.

"Only one way to find out." he said and pulled into the parking lot. After shutting off the engine, they both got out of the car and went into the hardware store. "Okay let's split up. You go down this half of the store, I'll go down this half." she nodded and the started down different isles.

Five minutes later Gabriella came across what they were looking for. She smiled and grabbed two cords. She then went down every isle looking for Troy.

"Looking for someone?" Gabriella turned around and frowned when she saw one of the store workers looking her up and down.

"Yeah my boyfriend." she said and started to walk away from him.

"Well why don't I help you find him." he said and went to stand in front of her.

"No thanks. I think I can find him on my own."

"What's the big rush?" he asked stopping her from walking past him.

"Can you move please." she said in more of a demand than a question.

"Not until you agree to giving me your phone number."

"What do I have to do? Brand it to my forehead or something? I'm taken so back off."

"And I say I don't believe you."

"And I say you should." came Troy's voice from behind the guy and Gabriella sighed in relief.

"Thank you God." she said as he walked over to her.

"Hey babe." he said and kissed her. "Is everything okay here?" he asked turning to the employee.

"Yeah everything's fine. I was just seeing if she needed any help." he said, his eyes glaring daggers at Troy. Troy, of course, didn't notice or he didn't care. He just stood there with a smirk on his face and his arm around Gabriella's waist. "But I see she's got everything under control so I'm just gonna go." Troy nodded and watched the guy leave until he was out of sight.

"You okay?" he asked the girl beside him.

"Yeah I'm fine but what took you so long?"

"This store's pretty big. There's so many isles it's not even funny."

"Really?" she asked skeptically.

"Yep. And guess what?"

"What?"

"I found so many places where we can make out and not be disturbed." he whispered into her ear and she playfully pushed him away.

"Troy we can't do that in here."

"Of course we can. No one will ever find out."

"But what about Sharpay?"

"So what if we're late ten minutes or so. She'll understand." she looked at him, not really moved by his speech. "Please Gabs." he said with his infamous puppy dog pout.

"Fine, fine. Just stop with the face." he chuckled and pulled her close.

"Victory is mine."

"And what are you going to do with this victory?" she asked and he leaned in closer to her ear.

"Have hot, passionate sex with my ultra sexy girlfriend."

"No. Not here."

"Why not?"

"Troy we are not having sex in a hardware store. It's bad enough we did it in a restaurant. No way are we doing it here."

"Fine but you have to promise me we can when we get back to the house."

"I promise." he pecked her lips and smirked.

"Good. Now let's go make out." she laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You are such the little horn dog today, are you?"

"What do you expect from a guy who's girlfriend looks like you? Why do you think that guy was hitting on you earlier? You're hot." she smirked and kissed him. "Mmm...and you're all mine." she took his hand and led him off down an isle.

"Come on. Let's go so we won't be late getting back."

"Are we going to have sex?" he asked, hopefully.

"Troy..." she whined and he chuckled, coming up behind her to grab her by the waist.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry."

"That's okay." she turned around in his arms as he backed her against the wall. "You are, after all, _my_ little horn dog." she said with a seductive smirk and he smirked back, leaning his head closer to hers to cover her lips with his.

"Where are those two?" Sharpay asked as she stared out the window, waiting to see her car drive up the driveway. She finally saw headlights coming towards the house and sighed. "It's about time." she mumbled and went outside. "Where have you two been?" she asked as Troy and Gabriella stepped out the car.

"The store. Cause you know, you sent us there." Troy answered.

"Actually I sent you there. You just decided to bring your girlfriend with you. So do you have to extension cords?" Gabriella handed her the two cords and Sharpay squealed. "The house is going to look so great." she said and went inside. Gabriella and Troy looked at each other before shrugging and taking the other's hand.

They went inside and noticed that everyone was piled into the living room.

"So nice of you two to join us again." Taylor said with a grin.

"What took you two so long?" Jason asked and they both looked at each other, not knowing what to tell their friends.

"Long story." Gabriella said.

"Yeah long and boring. You guys don't wanna hear about it." Troy said and his friends looked at each other, knowing that Troy and Gabriella weren't just out shopping for two extension cords. "So yeah...I'm going to go upstairs and take a little nap before dinner." he said and looked at Gabriella.

"What?" she mouthed and he motioned towards the upstairs. "No way." she mouthed out.

"You promised." he mouthed back and she sighed. She rolled her eyes before heading towards the staircase. He smiled and followed her. They weren't seen downstairs again until dinner.


	22. Greatest Time Of Year

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: I want the rights to HSM and/or the rights to Troy Bolton...oh yeah and Zac Efron_**

**A/N: do you guys remember that song that I had in chapter 20? Not the one that Gabriella sung but the one that she, Sharpay, Taylor, Troy, Chad and Ryan sung. Well I made a video to that song. It's on my youtube page just in case you guys want to know what it sounds like. It's a really nice song and that's not the last time you'll hear of it. This is to Lil-Evans: can you send me a list of artist and/or bands you like so it'll be easier to make the video for you. This next one is to all my youtube peoples: if you want HSM2 clips that are clear and without the Disney symbol, PM me and I'll give you the link.**

_Greatest Time Of Year_

**December 22; 3 more days until Christmas**

Troy sat at the island lost in thought, sipping his cup of coffee slowly. He was so busy thinking, he didn't notice the blonde that came to sit in front of him.

"What's gotten you so lost in thought?" Ryan asked and Troy looked up.

"Huh?"

"I said 'what's gotten you so lost in thought?'"

"Oh. A lot of things I guess."

"Well come on. Tell me."

"Well...I guess I just wanna know what's gonna happen after all of this is over."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean me and Gabriella go to different colleges and I don't know how we're gonna stay in contact like that." he looked down at the half empty cup, hoping it would give him the answers to his questions.

"How does Gabriella feel about it?"

"I don't know. We've already had this conversation before and I told her not to worry about it but...now that this vacation's almost over, I can't help but worry."

"Well in reality, when you look at it, you won't be away from her for that long. After this it's spring break then graduation time. So really you only have five and a half months of not being around her."

"Yeah but I've spent the last three years and eleven months without being around her, I don't think I can do it anymore." Ryan looked sadly at the guy who had become his best friend in a year's time. He knew how much Troy loved Gabriella and how much he hated being away from her.

"Look...just don't think of it as five and a half months because before you know it, it'll be graduation day and then after that, you'll be free to see her whenever you like." Troy looked up at Ryan and smiled.

"Thanks Ry. I never thought that I'd be getting advice from you after all those times I gave you advice back in high school."

"It's nothing. It's because of you I have all of you as friends."

"Me? No way. That's all Gabriella's doing. She's the kindest person I know."

"That's probably why you two are perfect for each other. You're both kind-natured. You two are always the ones who makes friends."

"What are you two doing in here?" Kelsi asked as she and Destiny came into the kitchen.

"Just talking." both girls nodded before pouring themselves a cup of coffee and sitting at the island with the two boys.

"So where's Sharpay?" Troy asked.

"Surprisingly, still upstairs sleeping." Destiny answered.

"Well there's a change." Ryan said and he and Troy laughed.

"Morning everyone." Taylor said as she walked into the kitchen.

"Morning. Where's Gabi?" Troy asked

"Still sleeping." he nodded and abandoned his space at the island. He went upstairs and into Gabriella and Taylor's room. He smiled when he saw Gabriella sleeping, soundly. He walked over to her bed and sat beside her.

"Why are you watching me sleep?" she asked and he jumped up.

"Oh shit. Gabs you almost gave me a heart attack." she giggled and sat up.

"Sorry." he retook his seat beside her and smiled wearily.

"It's okay." he said and kissed her gently. "So how are you doing this morning?"

"Well I think it just got better."

"You think?"

"Okay, okay it did just get better." he grinned and she rolled her eyes.

"That's better."

"Dude." Chad said coming into the room. "Shar wants us to go find a tree."

"That should be easy."

"No man. You're misunderstanding me. She doesn't want us to _buy_ a tree, she wants us to _find_ a tree. As in go into the woods and cut one down."

"What? Is she nuts?"

"Apparently so."

"How the hell does she expect us to find a tree?"

"Who knows. All I know is that's what she wants us to do?"

"Us as in..."

"You, me and the three other guys that occupy this house at the moment." Troy nodded and ran a hand through his hair.

"Let me just go get dressed and I'll be down in a sec." Chad nodded and left the room.

"Well that sucks." Gabriella commented for the first time since Chad arrived.

"Yeah I know. Why does she want us to cut down a tree? Why not get one that's all ready been cut down?"

"Why not get a fake one? So much easier, less hassle, less clean up afterwards."

"I guess she thought a real one would make everything better."

"I guess it will. I can't remember the last time I had a real tree."

"What do you mean?"

"My mom's always had a fake tree. She said it was easier to deal with. And I guess she's right but sometimes...a real tree would make everything even more prettier." Troy smiled and touched her cheek.

"I'll bring back the best looking tree, just for you." she smiled and he kissed her. "I'll be back later." she nodded and watched him leave.

Once Troy had showered and dressed, he and the others took the Lexus and went to find the perfect tree to bring back.

"What about this one?" Chad asked and Troy shook his head.

"Too scrawny."

"Oh you mean like Ryan?"

"Hey. I am not scrawny."

"Oh but you are."

"Am not."

"Guys can we find the tree please." Troy said, agitated.

"Someone's in a bad mood." Zeke said.

"No someone wants to get the hell out of this cold." Troy said.

"Please Troy. We all know you just wanna go home back to your girlfriend so you and her can do what you did before dinner last night." Jason said and Troy looked over at him.

"H-How do you know about that?"

"It was kind of hard not to hear it."

"Fuck." he cursed under his breath. "Well I guess it's better than you waking up to it."

"Yeah. Wait what? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well..."

"Oh God you didn't?" Chad said and Jason looked confused.

"What?"

"Yeah we did."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I think they're talking about how Troy and Gabriella did it while you were sleeping." Zeke said and Jason looked at Troy.

"Are you serious?"

"Well you were out like a light."

"So? That doesn't give you any reason to fuck while I'm in the room."

"Can we move on from this topic?" Ryan asked. "I really don't want to hear anymore about Troy and Gabriella's sex life." the guys stopped talking and continued to look for a tree. They finally found the perfect one and cut it down. They carried the tree back to the SUV and tied it to the roof.

"Do you think they found the tree yet?" Taylor asked.

"Maybe." Destiny asked, never taking her eyes off the tv.

"Looks like someone's anxious for their boyfriend." Sharpay said with a smirk.

"Not as much as Gabriella was last night."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh come on Gabs. We heard you and Troy."

"Y-You did?"

"Yeah. And I'm guessing he's good?" Sharpay said and everyone looked at her. "What? I always wanted to know. You know how I used to be obsessed over him."

"Yeah but we didn't think that you'd actually have that on you mind." Kelsi answered.

"I was a hormone crazed teenage girl just like the rest of you. Don't think you can play innocent Ms. Nielsen. I remember that day in Senior year when you and Jason were caught in the Janitor's closet half naked." Kelsi blushed and looked away.

"That was you?" Gabriella gasped and Kelsi nodded. "Wow. I would have never thought it would have been you."

"Yeah well...I never thought you could make so much noise." Kelsi countered and Gabriella blushed.

"So tell us Gabriella...was it good?" Sharpay asked and they all looked at her.

"I'm not telling you that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's none of your business." Gabriella said and stood up.

"Oh come on. Please."

"No. I'm not telling you if my boyfriend is good in bed or not."

"So he's not?"

"No."

"So then he is?"

"No. I mean yes. I mean...ugh. Just forget it." just as she walked into the hallway, the boys came through the door.

"We've gotta talk." Troy and Gabriella said at the same time.

"I'm guessing I'm not the only one that heard about what everyone heard last night." Troy said and Gabriella nodded. "Let's go upstairs." Gabriella turned around and went up the stairs with Troy following.

"There better be some talking up there." Taylor yelled and Gabriella rolled her eyes. Troy took her into his room and closed the door behind them.

"I can't believe they heard us." Gabriella said as she sat on his bed.

"I can't believe we made that much noise." Troy said and crossed the room to sit next to her. She laid her head on his shoulder and he kissed the top of her hair.

"You know Sharpay kept asking me if you were good in bed." she said with a laugh.

"Am I?" he asked and she lifted her head.

"Since I've had no previous experience in this department, I'd have to say you were pretty damn good."

"Wait what do you mean by that?"

"Just like it sounds. I've never been with anyone before you."

"So you mean that first time we...you were a virgin?"

"Yeah. You didn't notice?" he shook his head. "I thought you did. I thought that's why you were gentle with me."

"Well I went slow as a precaution just incase you were but I didn't think you actually were."

"Well now you know."

"What were you saving yourself for?" he asked as she laid her head back on his shoulder.

"Two things: marriage or...you." he looked at her, the best way he could since she had her head on his shoulder.

"Me? Why me?"

"Cause I've always loved you and I knew one day I would be with you."

"And what happened if we hadn't gotten together?"

"Then that's what plan b: marriage, is." he nodded and grabbed her hand.

"I'm kind of glad to know that you were waiting for me." she smiled and laced their fingers.

"Guys stop making out and come help us trim the tree." Jason yelled and Troy chuckled.

"If only he knew what we did while he was asleep." Gabriella said.

"Actually..." she gasped and picked her head up to look at him.

"You told him?"

"Yeah. I don't know why it just...slipped." Gabriella sighed and stood up.

"Let's just hope he'll forget about it."

"I hope you two aren't doing it on my bed. It's bad enough you did it while I was sleep."

"Doubt it." Troy said and stood up. "Shall we?" she smiled and nodded, taking his hand in hers. They made their way downstairs and helped the others decorate the tree. After dinner, everyone went to sleep except for Troy and Gabriella. They stayed downstairs, sitting in front of the tree.

"It's so beautiful." Gabriella said lowly as she laid her head on Troy's shoulder.

"Yeah. I told you I would find you the best looking tree for you." she smiled and looked at him.

"Yeah you did. And I'm glad you did."

"Only the best tree for my girl." she giggled and shook her head.

"Have you forgotten about the four other girls in the house?"

"No. I was the one who picked this tree out and you were the only one I was thinking about." she smiled and he pushed a stray strand of hair from her eyes. "A beautiful tree for a beautiful girl." he whispered and kissed her.

"I should get upstairs before Tay thinks we're doing something." she whispered and he nodded. "I'll see you in the morning." she pecked his lips once more and went upstairs. He watched her go upstairs before pulling himself to the couch. He leaned his back against the soft fabric and stared at the tree.


	23. Christmas Time

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: All I want for Christmas is Zac Efron. lol._**

**A/N: sorry for being late but I was extremely tired last night and I wasn't home all day yesterday so I didn't get a chance to type this up. ::sighs:: I really am depressed that this story is almost over but at the same time I'm happy cause Christmas is so close. There is a lot of Troyella fluff in this chapter...wait when hasn't there been? Oh wait there was that one chapter when Troy was mad at Gabriella.**

_Christmas Time_

**December 23; 2 more days until Christmas**

"Troy" Gabriella whispered as she gently shook Troy awake. "Troy wake up." he opened his eyes and smiled when he saw her.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"You fell asleep in the living room."

"I did?" he asked and looked around. "What time is it?"

"One in the morning. Come on." she said and outstretched her hand. He took it and she helped him off the floor. Just as she was about to walk away, he pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her waist. "What?" she asked as he stared at her. Instead of answering, he kissed her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, giving into the kiss. "What was that for?" she asked when they broke apart.

"Just because." he said with a shrug and she grinned. He kissed her nose before taking her hand and leading her upstairs. He tried to lead her into his room but she refused to.

"No way. If Jason wakes up..."

"We're not gonna do anything, I just like the feeling of you sleeping next to me." she smiled and followed him into his room. She sat on the edge of his bed and watched him as he stripped down to his boxers and undershirt. She tired not to stare but she couldn't help it. "Like what you see?"

"Very much. Though I can't really say much with that shirt on." he smiled and leaned down to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he moved closer so she could wrap her legs around him. Once both her legs were secure around his waist, he crawled to the head of the bed without breaking the kiss. He gently set her down and broke the kiss.

"You're beautiful. You know that right?" he said looking into her eyes.

"So you've told me so many times."

"Well I'm saying it again. You. Are. Beautiful" he said as he kissed her repeatedly. She giggled and ran her hand through his hair. He moved so he was no longer hovering above her but laying beside her. She rolled over to her side and laid her head on his chest. It wasn't long before they were both asleep, comfortable in each other's arms.

"Not again." Jason said as he spotted the two on the bed hours after they had fallen asleep. He sighed and got up, going over to Troy and hitting him on the arm.

"What?" Troy asked, waking from his sleep. "What did you hit me for?"

"Oh I don't know. Maybe it's because you and your girlfriend decided to do it again while I was asleep."

"We didn't do anything Jase."

"And how am I supposed to believe that?"

"Do you see any of our clothes on the floor?"

"I see yours."

"Yeah because I wasn't going to sleep in them. Gabriella's still dressed so stop freaking out." Troy turned over and wrapped his arm around Gabriella's waist.

"If I find out you're lying..."

"I'm not. Now can I go back to sleep?"

"Fine." Jason left the room and Troy sighed, closing his eyes to go back to sleep.

"You're really going to go back to sleep?" Gabriella asked and Troy's eyes shot open.

"You're up?"

"Yeah." she said and turned around "I have been for the past five minutes."

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You needed your sleep. Besides I like just laying next to you." he smiled and ran his fingertips up and down her side.

"So do I." she smiled and moved closer to him. He kissed her forehead and tightened his grip on her.

"Guys breakfast is ready." Kelsi said, coming into the room an hour later. Neither Troy or Gabriella had moved from their spot on Troy's bed. They were too comfortable laying next to each other to feel like moving. "Are you two coming or not?"

"Give us a second." Gabriella said and Kelsi left.

"We should go downstairs before they start complaining." Troy said, not taking his eyes away from hers. Gabriella nodded and Troy got up. Gabriella watched him before sitting up and outstretching her hand. He smiled and took her hand, pulling her up.

The two went downstairs and sat, simultaneously, at the dining room table. Breakfast was filled with a lot of laughter and conversation. Chad cracked jokes whenever he could, receiving smacks to the back of the head everytime he made a bad one. After breakfast, Gabriella went upstairs to shower and change. Troy did the same and went in search of Gabriella afterwards.

"Hey." he said, finding her in her room.

"Hey."

"You wanna go for a walk on the beach?"

"Sure." she put on her sneakers and followed Troy downstairs. They put on their coats and went outside to the back of the house. They walked along the beach, hand in hand, no words were spoken. The only sound was the sound of the waves crashing against the sand.

"I can't believe there's only two more days until Christmas." Troy said starting up a conversation.

"Me either. It feels like it was just yesterday that we got here and now it's already close to Christmas."

"Yeah. It's weird how the time flies. Soon it's all gonna be over." Gabriella stopped walking and Troy turned to her. "What's wrong?"

"What's really gonna happen after all of this?" she asked and he sighed.

"Gabs I told you don't worry about it now."

"Why not? Like you said, soon it's all gonna be over."

"And we'll talk about it then. Let's just enjoy what time we still have."

"I just...I need to know. I need to know if you're still gonna be with me after this." Troy ran a hand through his hair and moved closer to her.

"Truthfully Gabriella...I'm scared about it too. Once Christmas break is over, we'll be going out separate ways and...I don't wanna lose you again." she wrapped her arms around his torso and he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'm afraid of being without you."

"So am I." she whispered and closed her eyes. They stood there in each others arms for a few minutes.

"How about we not think about the inevitable until it happens?" he asked, backing up slightly to look her in the eyes.

"Okay. I won't think about it if you won't"

"I won't. I promise." Gabriella smiled and he pulled her back into the hug. They started to walk again, comfortable silence falling between them. They found a spot on the sand and sat down, Gabriella between Troy's legs. "So what, may I ask, did you get me for Christmas?"

"You're gonna have to wait until Christmas."

"But it's only two days away. Just tell me now."

"Nope you're gonna have to wait."

"Aww man." he groaned and put his chin on her shoulder.

"So what did you get me?" she asked and a soft smile played on his lips.

"You'll see." she turned her head to look back at him.

"No really what did you get me?"

"I said you'll see. Why should I tell you what your gift is if you refuse to tell me what mine is?"

"Okay I'll tell you. I got you..."

"La, la, la, I'm not listening." he said, covering her ears.

"Troy..." she whined

"Nope you said you wasn't going to tell me what my present is."

"But I thought you wanted to know?"

"I changed my mind. Besides you only want to tell me now because I won't tell you what your gift is."

"Fine. Be mean then. Don't expect me to kiss you." she crossed her arms and looked straight ahead.

"Fine then. Don't kiss me. But that doesn't mean I can't kiss you." he brought his lips down to the flesh of her neck and began nibbling at it softly. She tried not to give in but she couldn't help herself. A soft moan escaped her lips as she leaned back, giving him more access to her neck. He trailed kisses from her neck to her earlobe, biting it gently enough to make her go weak.

"Troy." she moaned out as one hand subconsciously went behind her to grab his hair. He detached his lips from her skin and she turned her head around to look him in the eyes. They stared into each others eyes for two seconds before his lips descended on hers. He moved from behind her without breaking the kiss and laid her down onto the sand.

She wrapped both arms around his neck as he hovered above her. She tangled her fingers in his hair, gently pulling strands of it. He broke away from the kiss to look her in the eyes. No words were spoken just a silent conversation between their eyes. A smile broke out on her face, making him smile back, moving the stray hairs from her face before kissing her again.

After having a small make-out session on the beach, they finally returned to the house. It wasn't quite in the house but it wasn't loud, which probably meant they all were doing something separate, probably wrapping their gifts.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and wash the sand out of my hair." Gabriella whispered and he nodded, watching her leave his sight.

"So what did you two do out there?" Sharpay asked coming into the hallway with a smile on her face.

"Nothing that you need to worry about."

"So you two didn't do anything serious?"

"Unless you wanna call making-out serious then no. I think it's a little too cold to do anything more." she nodded and went into the kitchen. "So what have you guys been doing?" he asked as he followed her into the kitchen.

"Just hanging around, making sure we have everything in order for the party tomorrow."

"I totally forgot about the party. What time are our parents supposed to be here tomorrow?"

"Um six or seven I think." he nodded and Sharpay settled herself on a stool, leaning on the island. "But all of you have to help me and Zeke cook tomorrow. We're having Christmas Eve dinner here and then Christmas dinner over at the regular house."

"Regular house?"

"Yeah. My parents have two homes. This one and another one but the other one isn't on the beach like this one so we call it the regular house." he nodded just as Gabriella walked through the door.

"Finished with your shower?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yep. My hair feels so much better without all that sand in my hair." Sharpay looked over at Troy, a smirk on her face.

"And you expect me to think you two didn't do anything but make-out after that little revelation?" she asked him.

"We didn't do anything I swear. Tell her Gabi."

"We didn't. We just made out."

"Likely story." Troy scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Believe what you want." he got off the stool he had been sitting on and grabbed Gabriella's hand. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Upstairs so Sharpay can stop staring at me like I did something."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Sharpay called and Troy shook his head. They went into Troy's room and closed the door behind them. Troy leaned against the door, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"What's wrong?" Gabriella asked as she walked closer to him.

"Nothing. I just wish they would stop assuming that when we're alone we're having sex." she smiled sadly at him and touched his cheek.

"Just ignore them. I know I do. Let them assume what they want. We know we're not doing anything and that's all that matters." he smiled and nodded, leaning into her touch.

"You're right. Your words are the only words I should be worrying about." she smiled a sincere smile and leaned up placing a soft kiss on his lips. He put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss. She placed one hand on his chest while the other trailed down his cheek to rest beside the other on his chest. They pulled apart and leaned their forehead against the other's. His blue eyes connected with her brown orbs and he stared at her with the most serious look she had ever seen on his face.

"What's wrong?" she whispered. He closed his eyes and shook his head before opening his eyes again.

"I love you so much Gabriella." he whispered and a chill ran up her spine when she saw the love in his eyes, love that she had never seen before in Will's eyes. How could she have ever thought that there was a time when Will loved her more than the man in front of her did? She smiled, the same love reflecting in her eyes.

"I love you too Troy. More than you'll ever know." he smiled before closing the space between their lips.


	24. Under My Tree

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

**A/N: one. more. day. how sad is this? I like this chapter for the plain fact that I used one of the most romantic Christmas songs I've ever heard. It's called _Under My Tree_(same as the title of the chapter) by Nsync. Tomorrow is Christmas ::screams:: I can't believe it's here. I've waited for this day since last Christmas and here it is...already here.**

_Under My Tree_

**December 24(Christmas Eve); 1 more day until Christmas**

Gabriella opened her eyes the next morning, the feeling of Troy's arm wrapped around her waist settling itself in her mind. She smiled and looked up at his sleeping face, kissing the side of his mouth. His eyes fluttered open and found hers.

"Morning."

"Morning. Guess what?"

"What?"

"It's Christmas Eve." he laughed and brought her hand up to his lips, kissing her knuckles.

"Merry Christmas Eve."

"Merry Christmas Eve." she said with a smile. She looked over at the clock, it's face reading eight in the morning. "I better go shower." he nodded and she kissed his lips before leaving. Troy sighed, staring up at the ceiling. He reached over to the night stand beside his bed and pulled out the box holding Gabriella's gift.

"One more day." he said to himself before putting the box back in the draw. He got up and went into the bathroom to take a shower. After showering and changing to clean clothes, Troy made his way downstairs. "Morning everyone."

"Morning." they all chimed.

"Hey since Gabriella spends more time in your room than in ours, why don't you let Jason move in with Zeke and Ryan and then Chad can move into my room." Taylor suggested.

"Don't take it up with me, take it up with Chad and Jason."

"I already did and they said they were fine with it."

"Okay then I don't mind."

"Fine then. Gabs pack your stuff you're rooming with Troy." Taylor yelled and Gabriella poked her head out of the kitchen.

"Really?"

"Yep." Gabriella looked at Troy and he shrugged before nodding. She smiled and ran over to him, enveloping him in an embrace. "Hey I'm the one that convinced Chad and Jason to switch rooms." Taylor said and Gabriella hugged her best friend.

"Thanks Tay."

"You're welcome. Besides, I think Jason is tired of worrying that you two will do it while he's asleep again."

"Can't he just let that go. We didn't mean to." Troy said and Gabriella raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"Walk with me."

"Ooo someone's in trouble." Taylor said as they walked upstairs.

"Okay what did I do?" he asked as he followed her to his room. She waited until the door was closed before turning to him, a stern look on her face.

"I believe you were the one who told me that Jason was out like a light that night."

"So..."

"So why did you tell Tay we didn't mean to? We knew what we were doing and we meant it all."

"What was I supposed to tell her? 'Oh by the way, Gabriella I knew that he wouldn't wake up so we didn't worry over it.'"

"No...I guess not."

"I know what I'm doing Gabs."

"Love birds get your butts down here and help us cook." yelled Sharpay and they both sighed.

The group had been cook for four hours before finally finishing and fixing something for lunch. They all sat around the dining room table, talking about the dinner and Christmas day.

"So what time are the rents getting here?" Chad asked.

"About six or seven." Sharpay said biting into her sandwich. Chad nodded and went back to eating.

"Does this table get any bigger?" Kelsi asked.

"Yeah. There's two extra decks in the closet." Kelsi nodded and the conversation died down.

After lunch, the boys took out the two extra decks from the closet in the front hall and added them onto the dining room table. They went to the garage and got the extra chairs, setting them up with the rest of the chairs.

By three o'clock, no one had anything to do so they all sat in front of the tv watching Christmas specials, each girl snuggled up to their respective boyfriend. At six, the doorbell rung and Sharpay squealed before quickly getting up and going to the door.

"Hi everyone." she said and let all the people at the door in. One-by-one the parents walked into the living room, each one surprised by Troy's presence. No one had seen Troy since he left for college. Not even his parents had seen him in the three years he'd been away.

"Troy." his mother gasped before hugging him.

"Hi mom." he said hugging her back.

"I can't believe you're here."

"Me neither." he smiled at his mother before looking over at his father.

"Long time no see son." Jack Bolton said, giving his son a one armed hug.

"You can say that again." Troy chuckled before the sight of Gabriella and her mother caught his eye. He remembered what Gabriella had told him about how her mother fought breast cancer and it made him feel a little guilty that he wasn't there to help Gabriella through it. He walked over to the mother and daughter and Ms. Montez smiled at him.

"Well, well if it isn't Troy Bolton." she said with a hand on her hip.

"Hi Ms. Montez."

"After all this time of me not seeing you, all you can say is hey?" he nodded and she laughed before opening her arms. "Come here." she said and he hugged her. "You don't know how much you've been missed around our house."

"I think I can take a good guess." she pulled back enough to get a good look at him.

"My how you've grown. It feels like only yesterday that you were one of those crazy teens that my daughter hung out with." he laughed and scratched his neck nervously.

"Yeah...now we're crazy twenty-one year olds." she laughed and nodded.

"True." she said as she noticed Gabriella slipping her hand into Troy's. A small smile spread across her face and she looked at her daughter, her face glowing like never before. "Well it seems I've missed a lot these past twenty four days." she said raising an eyebrow at Troy.

"Believe me Ms. Montez, you have no idea."

"So if I'm correct you and Troy are together now?" her question directed at Gabriella.

"Yeah." she said and looked up at Troy. "And I'm happy with him."

"I hope so. That's all that really matters: your happiness. As long as Troy makes you happy I'm happy."

"I wouldn't want anything else for her Ms. Montez." Troy said, staring into Gabriella's eyes. Ms. Montez smiled at the way the dark haired boy looked at her daughter. She had never seen someone have so much adoration for one person.

"Wait a second. Gabriella what happened to Will? I thought you two were dating."

"We kind of broke it off. It wasn't working out."

"_We_?" Troy asked.

"Okay me. I decided to break it off with him."

"Why?"

"Just some issues he had with me and Troy."

"What do you mean?"

"Well you know how me and Troy have always been close? Will didn't like that so much. He wanted me to leave everyone else and go with him to spend Christmas with his family. I told him I couldn't choose my friends over him."

"Well I think it's good that you've decided to be with Troy. You two have always made a cute couple."

"Mom."

"It's true. Not to mention the fact that even when you were with Will, you were never as happy as you were with Troy though you two were never together before."

"Okay everyone dinner's ready." Zeke said and everyone made their way into the dining room. Troy was able to catch up on whatever he had missed over the past three years. He couldn't believe how much he missed.

After dinner, everyone went into the living room. They all gathered around, conversing and drinking champagne. Troy smiled at this scene. He was once again with his family and friends celebrating something he had passed up for the past three years.

Soon it was time for the parents to head back to the other house. They all said their goodbyes until tomorrow and left. After that, everyone went their own ways. Sharpay and Zeke went into the kitchen to clean up. Taylor turned on the fireplace and she and Chad settled in front of it with hot chocolate in their hands. Kelsi and Jason had gone upstairs and Ryan and Destiny were on the balcony.

Troy searched around the room, looking for his beautiful girlfriend. He finally spotted her sitting by herself on the stairs. A slow song started on the radio in the background, it's soft melody reaching his ears. He walked over to Gabriella and outstretched his hand.

"Dance with me?" he asked and she smiled. She took his hand and he led her to the middle of the floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her waist.

_It's that time of year_

_Christmas is here_

_Everyone is back together again_

_Spreading the joy_

_Spreading the cheer_

_Toasting to another year's end_

_So thankful for_

_All of our friends_

_When the party is over_

_The night's just begun_

_I promise the best part_

_Is yet to come_

_We slow dance together_

_Two become one_

_That's what we waited all day for_

Gabriella leaned her head on Troy's shoulder, closing her eyes. Troy smiled softly and rest his head on the top of hers, breathing in her scent. This felt right, it _was_ right. She fit into ever contour of his body completing the puzzle.

_No one else but me and you_

_Nothing I would rather do_

_Than hold you all through the night_

_Under my tree_

_Bring along the mistletoe _

_Keep the music nice and low_

_I'll show you how good it would be_

_I wish that Santa could be here to see_

_It's beautiful under my tree_

_The fire's aglow_

_We've got Nat King Cole_

_Sing us a song from his heart_

_Sleigh bells and snow_

_Makes us feel close_

_To the stars_

_When the carols are sung and_

_The fire has died _

_The embers still burn with the love in our eyes_

_We cherish the moment_

_We savor the night_

_That's what we've waited all day for_

_No one else but me and you_

_Nothing I would rather do_

_Then hold you all through the night_

_Under my tree_

_Bring along the mistletoe_

_Keep the music nice and low_

_I'll show you how good it could be_

_I wish that Santa could be here to see_

_It's beautiful under my tree_

Troy took Gabriella's hand and led her over to the Christmas tree. He got down on the floor and laid down underneath it.

"Troy what are you doing?" she asked and he smirked at her.

"Lay down and see." she sighed and rolled her eyes. She got down next to him and laid under the tree.

"Why are we down here?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Look."she looked up and gasped. She never realized how beautiful the tree looked from underneath.

_No one but me_

_No one but you_

_Sweet rendez-vous_

_No one but me_

_No one but you_

_When the party is over_

_The night's just begun_

_I promise the best part_

_Is yet to come_

_We slow dance together_

_Two become one_

_That's what we've waited all day for_

_No one else but me and you_

_Nothing I would rather do_

_Then hold you all through the night_

_Under my tree_

_Bring along the mistletoe_

_Keep the music nice and low_

_I'll show you how good it could be_

_I wish that Santa could be here to see_

_I wish that Santa could be here to see_

Gabriella moved closer to Troy and laid her head on his chest. The two just stared up at the interior of the tree, feeling a sense of comfort and safety. They intertwined their fingers and laid there in silence.

_No one else but me and you_

_Nothing I would rather do_

_Then make all your dreams come true_

_Under my tree_

_Such a cozy rendez-vous_

_Just relax_

_Enjoy the view_

_I'll show you how good it could be_

_I wish that Santa could be here to see_

_It's beautiful_

_Beautiful_

_Beautiful_

_Under my tree_

_It's that time of year_

_Christmas is here_

_It's that time of year_

_Christmas is here_

_Full of love and good cheer_


	25. Perfect Christmas

**The Holidays Can Change Everything**

_by: LunarEclipse360_

**_Disclaimer: I want it but I can't have it_**

**A/N: here it is...the last chapter of the story ::cries:: it sucks that this is ending, it also sucks that today is Christmas and I feel like shit. I feel nauseous and dizzy and my bones feel like bricks but I still typed this up for you guys because I love all of you. Well enjoy. Remember there will be a one-shot follow up of this that takes place on New Years.**

_Perfect Christmas_

**December 25; Merry Christmas**

Troy awoke the next morning, his mind trying to awake from it's slumber. Suddenly a smile formed on his lips when he realized what day it was. He rolled over and saw Gabriella sleeping soundly next to him. He moved in closer and kissed her lips, awaking her from her sleep. Her brown eyes opened and she smiled when she saw him.

"Morning." she said softly.

"Merry Christmas." he said and her eyes widened, her body becoming fully awake.

"I can't believe it's actually here."

"Neither can I, love, neither can I." he touched her cheek and placed another kiss on her lips.

"If that's my Christmas present then you can forget getting mine."

"It's not your Christmas present. I just love kissing you, is all." she smiled and he continued to kiss her until they were just making out.

"Okay we know Christmas is the season of love but seriously can you two not make out" Taylor said standing in the door way. Gabriella giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Merry Christmas to you too Tay."

"Merry Christmas you two." she walked over to Gabriella and Troy, hugging them both. "Come downstairs, everyone's been waiting for you to get up."

"Well geez how long have you guys been up?" Troy asked.

"Since seven."

"And what time is it now?"

"Ten."

"You guys are nuts."

"Just get up already."

"Fine we're coming." Taylor left the room and Troy got up. "Come on Sleeping Beauty." he said to Gabriella and she held out her arms. He sighed but leaned down, allowing her to wrap her arms around him. He pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her waist. He took her hand and they went downstairs together.

Downstairs they saw everyone sitting in front of the tree, waiting for their arrival.

"You guys were really waiting for us?" Gabriella said as they took a seat on the couch.

"Of course. You can't open gifts if everyone isn't here." Destiny said "Shall we start now?" everyone nodded and she turned to the tree. "Okay first up. Taylor this is from Kelsi." she handed Taylor the wrapped box and they all watch Taylor open it.

"Thanks Kelsi." Taylor said as she looked at her new laptop. "How did you afford this?"

"I have my ways."

"Okay next is...Ryan from Zeke." Destiny said and handed Ryan a small bag.

"What did he get me?" he mused as he reached into the bag, pulling out a brand new hat.

"To add to your collection."Zeke said and Ryan smiled.

"Thanks." Ryan said giving his sister's boyfriend a one armed hug.

"No problem."

"Jason this is from your girlfriend." Destiny handed Jason a bag and Jason looked at it, wondering what was inside of it. He took out the tissue paper and gasped.

"No way." he said as he dug out an envelope with the NYU seal on it.

"What is it?" Chad asked as Jason opened it, his eyes widening at the sight of the words written.

"It's an acceptance letter to NYU's graduate school for film. How did you get this?"

"I know a few people on the board of directors and they pulled a few strings for me."

"You're the greatest Kels." he said as he took her in his arms.

"I know. But wait there's more." Destiny looked again and saw another bag with Jason's name on it. Jason went through it and smiled.

"Alright." he said as he pulled out an official Yankees jersey with the name _Jeter_ followed by the number 2. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Next is...Sharpay. This is from me." Sharpay took the box from Destiny and ripped the paper off.

"Aww Des." she said as she looked at her new pink shimmery dress. She pulled it out and held it against her. "Thanks." she said hugging her brother's girlfriend.

"You're welcome." she turned back to the tree and pulled out a bag. "Ryan this is from Troy." she said handing her boyfriend the gift bag. Ryan pulled out the tissue paper and smiled.

"Alright the _Hairspray_ soundtrack and _Footloose_ and..._Wicked_."

"Who says wicked anymore?" Sharpay asked.

"No I mean the play _Wicked_." he said and pulled out the original cast soundtrack to _Wicked_. "I love these plays. How did you know?"

"And you say I never pay attention." Troy said with a grin and Ryan shook his head.

"Thanks man."

"You're welcome."

"Next up. Chad, this is from Sharpay." she said handing Chad a bag.

"Finally I get to see what you got me." Chad said and went through the bag. "A jersey?" he said as he lifted up the shirt.

"Not just a regular jersey."

"A Lakers jersey. Okay and..."

"And keep looking." he raised an eye brow at her before taking the jersey out of the box. As he did that, two small pieces of paper fluttered to the box and his mouth dropped open.

"What are they?" Destiny asked.

"Lakers tickets. How did you...?"

"You're welcome." Chad had to get up and hug Sharpay. Even though it wasn't a car, he was still happy about it.

"Troy this is from Sharpay." Destiny said handing Troy a small box. Troy took the box and opened it.

"A key?" he asked, confusion written on his face. His eyes widened when he realize what they were for.

"No way."

"Way."

"Where is it?"

"Out front." Troy quickly stood up and made his way to the door. He gasped when he saw the black Mercedes Benz sitting outside with a red bow on top. Everyone else had the same expression when they came outside.

"I can't believe you actually got me a car." he said to Sharpay before hugging her. "Thank you so much."

"You're so very welcome." they all went back inside and finished opening their gifts. Sharpay got a new actors chair from Chad, a reservation at her favorite restaurant from Zeke, a new mic from Ryan, a trip to Italy from Kelsi and Jason, a new purse from Troy, a necklace from Gabriella and a gift card to the Gap from Taylor.

Destiny got a brand new digital camera from Sharpay, a pair of gold earrings from Taylor, a gift card to Barnes and Nobles from Jason, a red halter top and ripped jeans from Kelsi, two tickets to The Little Mermaid from Zeke, a black and white checkered dress from Gabriella and a gold ring from Ryan. She understood fully when she didn't get a gift from Troy. They weren't that close and technically this vacation was the first time she'd seen him.

Ryan got a book of all of Broadway's plays from past to present from Gabriella, he got a few more soundtracks from Jason, his sister got him a new iPod, he got the sidekick LX from Chad, Taylor gave him a collectible screen play from The Phantom Of The Opera, and two tickets to Hairspray along with other Broadway memorabilia from Destiny.

Chad got a new basketball from Jason, a baseball jersey from Ryan, he got a one of a kind autographed baseball by Derek Jeter from Zeke (he has no idea how Zeke got it), he got a Jason Kidd jersey from Troy, and Taylor, Gabriella and Destiny chipped in to buy him four tickets to the Rangers game.

Taylor got a guide of the name of every romance novel written from Troy, new Echo sneakers from Destiny, a white gold bracelet from Sharpay, a new digital camera from Jason, a cook book from Zeke, an iTunes gift card from Ryan, Diamonds perfume from Gabriella and a trip to Cancun from Chad.

Zeke got a new cookbook from Gabriella, new cooking wear from Taylor, a Miami Heat jersey from Chad, an iPhone from Jason, a Lakers jersey from Troy, an autographed Michel Jordan jersey (back when he was part of the Chicago Bulls) from Sharpay, Super Bowl tickets from Destiny and Ryan and a Modells gift card from Kelsi.

Jason got a Lakers jersey from Troy, a new video camera from Sharpay, a new laptop from Chad and Taylor, he got a directors chair from Ryan, a Wii from Gabriella, cologne from Destiny and Zeke got him _Making Movies for Dummies_.

Kelsi got a new hat from Ryan, a new keyboard from Sharpay, a music program for the computer from Taylor, sheet music from Troy, a gift card to Forever 21 from Destiny, a gift card to Best Buy from Zeke, Gabriella brought her a green short sleeve shirt that said 'Music maker' on it, Jason gave her two tickets to the Philharmonic and an iTunes gift card from Chad.

Troy got a new pair of Converse from Zeke, a new digital camera from Taylor, a Lakers jersey from Ryan, a pair of Vans from Jason, cologne from Kelsi, a PSP from Chad, he and Destiny already had a mutual understanding about the gift, and he got a sidekick LX from Gabriella.

Gabriella got a blue and white shirt that hung off her shoulders from Kelsi, Sharpay and Ryan both got her two tickets to Maui, she got a new laptop from Jason, a video camera from Chad, a pair of low-rider jeans from Destiny, a Barnes and Nobles gift card from Zeke and a red strapless party dress from Taylor.

By time everyone had opened their gifts, it was already after one. They all went upstairs and got ready to head over to the Evans' other winter home. Gabriella sat in her old room, staring at the floor.

"What's wrong?" Taylor asked as she sat next to her best friend.

"He didn't get me a gift." she whispered.

"I'm sure he did."

"So why hasn't he given it to me yet?"

"You know how Troy is. He's a romantic. He wants to wait for the right time."

"I hope you're right." she said and stood up to go take her shower.

"So am I." Taylor whispered before looking for something to wear.

Troy went into his room, fully clothed. He went into the night stand and pulled out the box that held Gabriella's gift. He didn't want to give it to her downstairs. He'd rather wait until they were alone. He put the box in his pocket and went downstairs.

Troy was excited when he got to drive his new Mercedes. He spotted Gabriella coming down the stairs and he went over to her.

"Hey Gabs you wanna ride with me?" she looked at him, trying not to let her hurt show. She had to think about what Taylor told her.

"Sure." she said mechanically and walked over to his car. He knew something was wrong with her by the way she answered him but he didn't address it. The ride to the Evans' other home was silent between him and Gabriella.

"Are you okay?" he asked glancing over at him.

"Yeah."

"You sure?" she looked over at him and forced a smile.

"Yeah."

They arrived at the other house twenty minutes later and Troy pulled up behind Sharpay and Chad behind him. He and Gabriella got out the car and followed everyone up to the door. They were welcomed like they hadn't just seen their parents yesterday.

Throughout the night, Gabriella seemed to be ignoring Troy. He didn't know why but it was starting to upset him.

"Hey guys our song is on." Taylor said and turned up the radio where the song they had sung at the Children's Hospital played.

_Hello friend, it's me again_

_I just called to tell you_

_Even though I miss you so_

_I've been thinking of you_

_All my dreams are coming true, at last...ooh_

_The perfect ending to a wonderful year_

_Will be to celebrate the good times with you here_

_Cuz I know_

_For sure_

_I never wanted anything more_

Troy saw Gabriella sitting silently in the den. She had a mug of hot chocolate in her hand and her eyes were staring out the window. He walked over to her, staying as quiet as possible.

"Hey." he said lowly and she turned her head to look at him.

"Hey." she said as he sat down next to her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"I know you're lying. Come on tell me." she sighed and looked at the mug in her hands.

"Why didn't you get me a gift?"

"So that's what this is about?"

"Just answer the question."

"Who says I didn't?" she looked at him, confusion written in her eyes.

_The greatest gift that there could be_

_Wrapped underneath my Christmas tree_

_Would be the same my whole life through_

_I'd spend the perfect Christmas with you_

_Though the winter seems so long_

_My faith in love has kept me strong_

_So if I had a wish come true_

_I'd spend the perfect Christmas with you_

_I can't wait_

_Till the day_

_When I finally see you_

_So hold on_

_I won't be long_

_Got so much to show you_

_All my dreams are coming true, at last...ooh_

"No one said you didn't...it's just I didn't get anything from you."

"That doesn't mean I didn't get you a gift."

"Then where is it?" she asked looking at him. He looked back at her and smiled.

"Come on." he said taking her hand in his. He pulled her up and ushered her out the door. He led her over to the corner of the porch and she looked into his eyes. "The reason why I didn't give you a gift earlier is because I wanted to wait."

"Why?"

"Because I'd rather give it to you when we're alone instead of when everyone else is around." he reached into his pocket and pulled out the small velvet box. Gabriella gasped, looking down at the box before looking back up at him, surprise written across her face. "Go ahead open it." she took the box from him and held it in her hands before finally opening it.

"Oh my God...Troy it's beautiful." she said and stared at the golden heart-shaped locket with a gold rose inside.

"I thought you'd like it." he said and took the box from her hands, taking the locket out.

_The perfect ending to a wonderful year_

_Will be to celebrate the good times with you here_

_Cuz I know_

_For sure_

_I never wanted anything more_

_The greatest gift that there could be_

_Wrapped underneath my Christmas tree_

_Would be the same my whole life through_

_I'd spend the perfect Christmas with you_

He unclasped the chain and moved behind her, putting the chain around her neck. He fixed her hair and placed a soft kiss on the back of her neck. She smiled and turned around, looking into his eyes.

"You're amazing. You know that right?"

"So I've been told." she smiled and they were about to lean in to kiss when a squeal broke out. They looked towards the window where all their friends stood, Ryan holding his hand over Sharpay's mouth.

"So much for privacy." she said and he chuckled.

"Yeah. We never seem to have enough." she smiled and looked at him. They leaned in once again but a gasped interrupted them and they looked back at the window.

"Look...it's snowing." Kelsi said and they turned to look the other way. Sure enough, white flakes were falling from the sky. Gabriella giggled, excitedly and Troy looked at her.

"Come on." he said and grabbed her hand, pulling her out into the open. Their friends followed, laughing and playing in the snow.

_So when you ask me what I mean_

_To me the Christmas is complete_

_Boy can't you see_

_You're the one thing missing for me_

_The greatest gift that there could be_

_Wrapped underneath my Christmas tree_

_Will be the same my whole life through_

_I'd spend the perfect Christmas with you_

_Though the winter seems so long_

_My faith in love has kept me strong_

_So If I had one wish come true_

_I'd spend the perfect Christmas..._

As everyone dance around them, Troy and Gabriella held each other close, staring into the each others eyes. There was nothing else around them. They were the only two in their world. They slow danced in the snow, letting all worry and care slip away.

"Before I forget." he said stopping their dance. "Look at the engraving on the back." she gave him a confused look before turning the locket around.

"_Baby if I could have just one wish come true, I don't wanna spend one more Christmas without you"_

She smiled at the words and looked up at him, his own smile playing on his face.

"You really mean it?"

"Of course I do. I've been miserable these past three years without you. I don't want to have to go through that again. I love you too much to want to go through that again." she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close.

"Then consider your wish granted." she said and he wrapped his arms around her waist. _"And if I had one wish come true...I'd spend the perfect Christmas here...with you." _Troy smiled and closed the space between them, placing a soft but passionate kiss on her lips.

For Troy and Gabriella, this truly was a perfect Christmas.

**A/N: and that's the end. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this, I know I enjoyed typing it. P.S. the engraving Troy put on the locket is from a song called _I Don't Wanna Spend One More Christmas Without You_ by Nsync. It's sad but I love it. P.S.S. I told you, you guys would see that S Club song again. Well guys, until next time...have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year or for those who don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Holidays :D**


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